


Bite my tongue

by lovewido



Category: The Walking Dead & Related Fandoms, The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Alpha Daryl Dixon, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Anal Sex, Daryl is 32, Dubious Consent, Enemies to Friends, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Friends to Lovers, Knotting, M/M, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Omega Rick Grimes, POV Rick Grimes, Rick didnt have a nice youth, Rick is 24, Rick isnt a cop, Rick never met Lori, Rick never met up with the rest of the group, Rick was never in a coma, Self-Lubrication, Some dubcon elements between Shane and Rick, Swearing (a lot oops), and I really mean a lot of swearing, dubcon, setting: prison
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-21
Updated: 2018-12-13
Packaged: 2019-04-05 17:34:55
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 28,469
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14049327
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lovewido/pseuds/lovewido
Summary: The world had crumbled down under their feet, the dead corpses started to come back to life and kill the living, the living scattered across the world in pure panic as many lives were taken in the first few days. And it only got worse. There aren’t a lot of people alive at this point, the apocalypse had started about seven months ago and most of the people all around the world were probably dead already.Amongst the living there was a young man on his own, with only a mere 24-years old, he managed to do well on his own. His name, Rick Grimes. A young omega. You see, the world was even cruel before the apocalypse happened. Their biology started to change, secondary genders developed to the shock of scientists. Alpha, Beta and Omega.____OR the story where Rick has struggles with being an omega and tries not to lose himself in the world of walkers, alpha's and other threats.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Title based on the song "Bite my tongue" by Logan Henderson
> 
> What? Another omegaverse fanfic?? What is this??  
> I have no self control.  
> I thought about it and I just straight up did this, lol.  
> I'm so hyped tho!!! I mean look at the first chapter!! 7000 words!!  
> You guys don't even know how hyped I am to write this. 
> 
> I tried to explain everything around omega's and alpha's in this world, though Alpha's aren't really different from the 'basic' alpha's. Omega's are a bit different, though!! 
> 
> Gosh I don't even know what else to say!! I hope you guys love this as much as I do!! 
> 
> TW: MENTIONED NON-CON! (doesn't happen to them, but it's mentioned in the story!) 
> 
> I can't say when the new chapter comes, though. I'll try to update this as soon as possible, but I can't promise anything!! Since I have two other baby's to write and aaa. 
> 
> Again I hope people will like this but omg i am just so hyped you guys aaah.

The world had crumbled down under their feet, the dead corpses started to come back to life and kill the living, the living scattered across the world in pure panic as many lives were taken in the first few days. And it only got worse. There aren’t a lot of people alive at this point, the apocalypse had started about seven months ago and most of the people all around the world were probably dead already. 

Amongst the living there was a young man on his own, with only a mere 24-years old, he managed to do well on his own. His name, Rick Grimes. A young omega. You see, the world was even cruel before the apocalypse happened. Their biology started to change, secondary genders developed to the shock of scientists. Alpha, Beta and Omega. 

Alpha’s had a pretty good life, just hanging around, making a lot of money, living the good life. He had never met an alpha who had lived a bad life. Those were rare. Alpha’s lived to lead, find a mate and spread their legacy. They could get red eyes, the darker, the more aroused or angrier they were. The crimson red eyes were a sign of their rut, a vicious thing that was quite the same as an omega’s heat, only triggered to impregnate the submissive species. Leaders, protectors, that kind of bullshit. 

Beta’s, or just the regular human in his eyes. They kept on living like people usually did, just normal persons without a real secondary gender. Their body’s where as if nothing had changed, apart from the slightly enhanced olfactory cells, to pick up an omega’s or alpha’s scent. They couldn’t really do anything more than that. The women could breed, the males could impregnate women, just like it always had been the case. 

Omega’s. The lowest of the lowest. Designed to be bred by an alpha. Made by nature to receive, to be impregnated and be mated to an alpha. To spread the legacy of an alpha. Society had been cruel to them. See, omega’s had a rough life. They couldn’t get a job unmated, they couldn’t go to a regular school, if you had an omega as parent without an alpha you’d live in the poorest parts of the city, sometimes even on the street. 

See, omega’s had these fucking irritating thing that returned every once in a while, called heats. For male omega’s, the only times they were ovulating and were able to become pregnant. Their body would just ache to be knotted, to be bred to the point that it made omega’s insane, whiny bitches begging alpha’s to be bred. They’d slick themselves up, their scent full of pheromones to attract any alpha nearby. Letting the alpha’s fight against each other until the last one was standing and claiming them as a god damn trophy price. 

How many times an omega got his or her heat depended all on the alpha’s. There were about three different time periods an omega could get his heat. The first group being the “unbred” omega’s. The unbred omega’s were omega’s who didn’t get bred the last time they went into heat. Their womb was ready to conceive, but they didn’t get bred by any alpha, meaning the only thing the womb needs to do is fling itself in another heat just merely another month later. As long as an omega is on it’s own, the heat could last for around five days. Whilst by being bred by an alpha it would only last around three days.

The next group of omega’s was the group of “bred” omega’s. Those were the omega’s that had been bred in their last heat, but had not been mating. Conceiving was almost a hundred percent certain at the time of breeding. If an alpha managed to stay with an omega during the whole heat, there was a 99.9% chance of the omega conceiving. Conceiving wasn’t the hardest part for a male omega, though. About seventy percent of the conceived male omega’s lose the child without even knowing within the first three months. 

The first three months are the most crucial one’s. The embryo would be floating around in the unsteady womb of the male omega, sometimes it would get reabsorbed by the body, sometimes they just _lost_ when going to the toilet or something. When the three months mark is hit and the omega had managed to keep the pup, it was about eighty percent certainty that they’d carry the pup until the day it’s due to be born, at nine months after conceiving. This is due to the umbilical cord that attaches the embryo to the womb. When carrier and pup have been connected to each other the omega starts emitting a special pheromone, marking it for alpha’s for being pregnant. 

If they don’t carry it until it due date, the body would fling itself in another heat between ten and fourteen weeks later. The womb needed time to recover, the hormones needed to get through the male’s omega once again before it’s able to breed again. However, if the omega’s not being bred during the next heat, his regulation would be just the same as the unbred omega.

The last group of omega’s were the mated, or bonded omega’s. They are bitten on their nape or scent glands by the alpha during the highest point of the breeding. It could be unwillingly for the omega, which happened in the society they had lived in before the apocalypse, or it could just be because the alpha and omega really wanted to mate. The bite made sure that the omega isn’t able to breed with any other alpha except for the alpha whom it’s mated to. They can’t produce anymore slick, they can’t conceive. It was a heavy bond and when an Alpha died or decided to just throw the omega away, most of them ended up dead. 

Their heat regulations would become the same as the regulations of the bred omega. 

Being outside in cities was a huge gamble for most omega’s. Though, luckily there was one nice thing. If an omega was never been bred, like him, they wouldn’t just go whining and howling for an alpha to come and breed them in their heat. They would emit the pheromones, they would feel feverish, but they wouldn’t react as heavily as an omega who had been bred before. The only thing that changes that if an alpha comes nearby. As soon as an omega in heat had even scented an alpha, the omega would’ve been gone and spread his legs to be used for however the alpha wanted. 

But the whole world had crumbled down, had changed. Omegas were rare these days, the scent not only attracting alpha’s, but also walkers, ready to rip the omegas apart. Luckily for him he had never been bred before. He had lived in the woods with his mom, another omega. Every time his body had flung itself into heat he never met any alpha, never been bred. And god, he was fucking happy that it didn’t happen. 

Because here in the apocalypse it was easier to survive, not whining and howling for an alpha to come over to them. When his body flung itself in a heat he mostly stayed in trees, far up from the walkers. Sometimes on the roof of a house or anything like that. But he’d stayed high, cause walkers couldn’t climb tree’s. Or a roof. Only if stairs connected them, yeah, but as long as it didn’t he’d be safe. 

When he was sure his body wasn’t go ahead and throw itself into heat he went into towns, scavenging, making sure that he’d actually had enough when his body decided to go into heat. A lot of water, that was the main thing. Most of the time he’d cleared his own water, though. He had a simple, small thing that could catch the damp of boiling, fresh water and lead right into his bottle. It was handy, it was small and he could take it anywhere he wanted to. 

Hunting was another thing he’d learned himself while roaming the woods. He wasn’t the best at it, he admitted that, but at least he could catch things on a regular base to feed himself. Most of the time he slept in trees, or at rooftops. Basically because he didn’t trust the ground. A tent was too weak and a walker could just come in whenever they pleased. Yeah, they could surround you when you were in a tree, but with some skills you could make sure that you were safe. Even if that meant to jump to another tree for safety. At least it was more safe than sleeping on the ground. As long as you didn’t made a sound they wouldn’t even know you were there. Oh and if you were covered in walker guts. 

He usually was, it was a lot safer than to walk around. He’d figured out that they’d react to scent as well. Luckily there weren’t a lot walkers in the forests, though. The real danger was in the towns and cities, because there had been a lot of people there when they died. He only went into cities when he searched for canned food. He always carried a few tins with him and sometimes he buried some because he couldn’t carry them all. It was better than leaving them out in the open and it gave him a chance to get it without anyone else taking it. 

He was tracking a deer, at least that’s what he thought. With his body close to a heat it would be a damn goldmine to have a deer cooked up and ready to be eaten. Being in heat costed a lot of energy, so any food was welcome at that point. A deer would give him enough meat to last for weeks to come. He grinned at the thought. The only thing left was actually killing this deer. 

When he saw a man hunched over the deer he almost wanted to swear. Jesus, that was his damn deer! When the man suddenly rose to his feet and pointed his crossbow right to his face he let out a soft growl. “That was _my_ deer.” He growled to the man as he came out to the spot to look down at the deer. It wasn’t a big deer, but it would’ve been more than enough for him on his own. If not too much. 

“Yeah? Well I didn’t see ya shoot it down.” The man said with narrowed eyes. He huffed loudly through his nose, letting his irritation be known to the man. He had hunted for this deer for who knew how long and the man in front of him just simply _took_ his prey from him. He couldn’t just accept that right? He raised his knife, staring the man in his blue-grey eyes. He was not scared for the man. Even if he looked stronger than he was. He had more experience and it looked like the man was on its own just like he was. 

If he’d been hunting with more people the other people would’ve arrived by now to help him with his catch. “So? Ya gonna to attack me?” The man asked him with his redneck accent thick on his voice when he spoke. He huffed a laugh as he tilted his head slightly to the side with a grin on his face. “I’m not just goin’ to fight you.” He told the man calmly as he pointed his knife at him. “I’m goin’ to kill you.” He said to him with a serious tone in his voice. 

He wasn’t scared to kill. He had to protect himself. He had to make sure that he’d be able to eat. Even if it meant that other people would starve. They hadn’t cared for him when he lived with his omega mom in the woods, so why would he care for them now? The man glared at him, his eyes narrowing as the man seemed to watch every small movement he made. The crossbow didn’t lower for one second, it seemed like it was just a fucking staring competition and they waited for one person to look away.

He sure as well wasn’t going to submit. His jaw clenched as he moved his legs slightly, ready for attacking, defend himself or run away. He was ready for everything. He didn’t do any of this just to run away from his prey, though. “Why shouldn’t I just put a bolt b’tween ya eyes?” The man growled to him as he puffed up his chest, making him look larger than he really was. Not that he cared, he’d rather have the man dead than alive at this point. 

“I don’t know, you tell me.” He said challenging to the man. He didn’t seem like a man who’d just recklessly kill people without a reason given to him. He hadn’t attacked the man. _Yet_. That was probably keeping him from just putting that bolt between his eyes. He was the first one to look away, though, shooting forward with his knife up. The man almost wanted to shoot his bolt, before noticing growling behind him. 

With one easy stab in the head like it was nothing he’d killed the walker that had crawled up to the man. Now, you might ask why’d he didn’t let the walker kill the man and take his prey. Sure, this man had threatened him, but even he wasn’t _that_ cruel to let the man get bitten. He’d seen it before, his chest still tightening at the thought at his mother, when he returned to their home only to find his mom with a bite mark on her arm. 

God, how much he missed his mom. He had felt blood running down, like it was being drained from his body. She’d apologized so many times, holding him close to her body while she was still okay, apart from the bite. If only he didn’t went out, stayed at her side to protect her from the walker who’d grabbed her arm and had bitten her before she had stabbed it in it’s head. He’d sobbed against her shoulder for a long time. 

The fever had kicked in not an hour later. It had broken his heart, seeing his mother like that. Ill, slowly dying, grabbing his hand and running circles with her thumb on the back of his hand, telling him that everything would be alright. That he was going to be alright. Her telling him that she was so damn proud of him, that she could never wished for a better son than he. And he’d sobbed, telling her over and over again that he loved her so much. She’d told him to stay safe, she told him to keep living, keep fighting. 

_No matter what it takes_.

He couldn’t imagine doing that to anyone else. He didn’t want anyone to give her the end she got. After she stopped breathing he had started to break down. When those glassy eyes had looked at him with hunger, not being her, when every inch of her soul had left the body. He’d stabbed her in her head. He didn’t know how long he’d sobbed, holding her dead body in his arms. His mother, his only family, the only person he’d cared for in the whole world had died. 

He’d buried her properly, gave her a grave, buried her near the stream, under her favourite tree where she always told him stories when he’d been a small boy full with hope. The tree where the sun was able to light the grass beneath them, warm rocks close where they’d lied on so many times. Where they’d made flower crowns when he was a lot younger. Where they were safe from the outside world. 

He moved away from that area not a day later. 

He didn’t know if the man was somewhere with people, with a group, but he knew one thing for sure. He wouldn’t let anyone in his presence get bitten by one of those things. The man looked warily at him, his gaze speaking more than words could ever convey. He was confused, not knowing if he should be thanking him or be afraid for him. 

“No thank you for savin’ your life?” He softly said, dangerously close to the man as he wiped his knife clean on his own shirt. The man swallowed harshly and met his blue eyes. “Thank you.” The man said with no emotion whatsoever in his voice. That he saved the man didn’t mean he wasn’t going to kill him, though. That was one thing which had to be clear. He’d kill him if he wanted to. With his own knife, no walker. A clean kill. Right in the head. No resurrection or anything like that; instant death. 

He wasn’t a person to make his victims suffer. He’d just kill them, instant death. He didn’t have to hear those gurgling sounds as they tried to keep breathing, hearing them coughing up blood as death slowly washed over them. He had to hear that once and that one time had been enough for him. “Now leave. Leave the deer right here.” He growled to the man, which just huffed a laugh. “Don’t think so.” The man told him right to his face. 

The man had guts, that he was sure of. Even with him being so close that the only thing he could do was actually stab him with an arrow instead of shooting him, the man stayed calm and was still thinking about taking _his_ deer. Funny. “How ‘bout we share?” The man finally decided to share, which made him glare at the man, narrowing his eyes in suspicion. He couldn’t be joking right? The man had actually asked him to share this deer? 

It was probably better than nothing, but he’d rather take the whole deer with him. “Fine.” He grumbled as he took a step back, still looking straight into the mans eyes. “But one wrong move and I’ll make sure you never see a thing the rest of your life.” He warned the man as he crouched down. Gutting was always better to do right on the spot, it’d make the deer lighter and the guts always attracted walkers like a pain in the ass. 

“Look out for any walkers while I’ll gut the deer.” He said while looking at the man, who looked at him with a frown, like he almost wanted to deny it, but the man didn’t say a thing and looked around them, searching for anything that moved. 

Good, now he could finally get to work. This might’ve been the first time he was actually safe while gutting an animal. At least, if he could trust this man. He still kept his ears and eyes open, for any indication of walkers or other people. He stabbed his knife in the still warm body of the deer and placed a hand on the stomach of the animal. In his head he thanked nature for this sacrifice, as he slowly opened the stomach. 

Most of the things were pretty good to eat, if he’d say so himself. He just had to make sure that the toxic organs were removed. Lungs were pretty good to eat, the same for the heart. But things like the bladder, kidney’s, bowels… those things needed to go. There was no need at all for them. And don’t get him wrong, he’d wanted to use as much as possible from the animal. 

Hell, he’d planned to clean the skin for the winter, he already had some small blankets made of fur and animal skin. No way he’d let the other man take that. The skin was his. “Let’s take this thang out of here before any more of those thangs show up.” He mumbled to the man as he lifted the deer on one side, the other man following his lead as he quickly lifted up the other side. 

He had no other choice than follow the other mans lead. He sure as hell wasn’t going to bring this man to his temporary camp, on top of a roof of a left behind cabin. “What’s ya name?” The question sounded and he looked at the man with suspicion in his eyes. Why did he have to know his damn name? He’d take his meat and skin, and after that he’d leave again. Like they never met before in their life. He sure as hell wasn’t going to stick around for a long time. 

“No need to know.” He grumbled to the man as he flashed his eyes to the man just in a warning. There was no need to know each other damn it. They were going to split up either way and after that never see each other again, hopefully. Especially since he used to travel around, he didn’t even know where he was. It didn’t even matter, there were no real things like cities anymore. Whatever if he crossed a state, it didn’t fucking matter anymore. 

“I want ta.” The man told him simply and he rolled with his eyes. Okay, so, name. Only his name. “Rick. Rick Grimes.” He said calmly to the man as they continued to stroll. How far where they taking this deer? Jesus. That would be a pain to walk back to his own camp, that was one thing he knew for sure. “What’s yours?” It was only fair to know, even though he didn’t really give a damn what his name was, he’d rather know the name of the man who knew his name. “Daryl. Dixon.” The man told him calmly as he stopped walking. 

This was it? Just a tent and a place for a fire. Nice protection here, bro. Not. It was pretty damn useless if he was honest. “It’s better at home.” The man told him and he couldn’t help but narrow his eyes. He didn’t think he was going _there_ right? “I’m just takin’ my part and leave.” He grumbled as they lowered the deer and he started to skin the animal. 

“Well, it’s gettin’ dark.” The man told him quite simply. He shot the man a look and groaned. Of course it was, it was because he’d been tracking this deer for so damn long only to get a share of it. At least he had food for a while. That was something. He’d skinned the deer with some trouble, but in the end he managed. They simple divided the deer in half and he made sure everything was packed easily. It was easier to put it in the skin than drag everything back. 

The man, named Daryl Dixon, started to make a fire, while he couldn’t help and search the area for any sounds. The first thing he did, though, was climb up the highest tree he could find to put his stuff there. At least it couldn’t be taken without the man climbing up and it was safe from walkers. Wouldn’t attract as much attention as well. 

When he got down again he could feel eyes burning into his skin. “Never seen a man climb in a tree?” He said to the man with a glare. Like it was damn unusual for people to climb into trees. Their ancestors had done it for how many years again? It wasn’t weird at all. “Ya been a long time out huh?” the man asked him calmly. Wasn’t that obvious? He was dirty, covered in walker guts and blood, his clothes ripped in multiple places, showing parts of his skin. 

“Yea.” He answered shortly, trying to make clear that he didn’t want any damn conversation with the man. Why should they? He didn’t want to talk, the last times he talked with someone it didn’t end well. At least, for the other party. They ended up threatening him into coming with them, _because he was an omega_. Multiple alpha’s. No way in hell. Luckily for him he wasn’t in heat during that time. 

They were so eager to bring him with them that they’d even wanted to shoot him to take him with them. It ended with them lying on the ground, stabbed. He’d killed almost all of them. Left one or two alive to run away. He wouldn’t chase them either way as long as they’d leave him alone. 

The two blue eyes of the other man looked at him as he’d scanned his body. “I was like ya once.” Daryl told him calmly. His eyes snapped right back on the man, looking at him. What did he mean he was ‘like him’ once? “Alone, thinkin’ I could do anythin’. Trust no-one.” Well, he wasn’t wrong at that point. But he would rather die than go with a group. Especially with the risk of alpha’s in a group. “Group is better, though. We have a group. Ya can join.” He huffed and rolled with his eyes. No thank you. 

“I’ll be gone in the mornin’.” He stated simply to the man as he looked down on his knife and started to clean it with his spit and his shirt. It wasn’t really cleaning, but at least it got rid of the blood and that was something in the very least. Cleaner than that wasn’t necessary anyway. 

The fire made soft sounds through the beginning of the night. They didn’t talk anymore and he’d decided to sleep in the tree where he’d put his stuff. He wasn’t going to sleep in that unsafe tent of his. Even though he’d seen the lines with empty cans on them, warning them if a walker would get nearby, he wouldn’t risk it. Though, it was pretty smart of him to put the cans there if he was honest. 

He’d ignored the slight itch on his lower back, maybe something he shouldn’t have done. But some times it was just a thing that happened from time to time. And he couldn’t risk walking through the night and getting caught by a walker. He almost couldn’t see in the dark. That was a huge problem. He could only lean on his ears in the night, no light whatsoever on him. 

______________  
When the warmth of the sun had reached his skin he’d already felt hot. Softly groaning against himself. He should’ve left earlier. He slowly got his things and climbed down, he had to go away before he attracted any walkers with his damned scent. Find his things back there and climb into the tree so he’d be safe from all the walkers on the ground. 

What he didn’t expect was the intense scent of an aroused alpha when the tent opened. Red eyes that locked his eyes, making him unable to look away. No, no, no. This wasn’t how it was supposed to be. His body responded almost immediately as he whined softly and his knees started to buckle. Jesus. He never knew the scent of an aroused alpha was this intense in heat. 

He’d only smelled it once, when he wasn’t presented yet as an omega. The scent had been all over his mom, he knew how it was an alluring scent. At that time he didn’t even know what it’d do to him later on. He wished he never knew how it made him feel. 

_Submit._ was the first thing that rushed through his mind. Get on all fours, submit to the alpha right in front of him. His mouth filled itself with saliva, his body started to make more slick than he ever knew it could make. God, no. The alpha in front of him growled as he came closer, making him whimper even so slight. What this man did to him, already, was insane. Instinctively he showed his neck, lowering his head to submit to the alpha, showing how submissive he was. 

The alpha rumbled in response as he came closer and took a generous inhale through his nose. The nostrils of the alpha flared, as if it was taking in every damn pheromone of him. The alpha looked around them, his breathing ragged and fast. “C’mon.” the alpha growled to him, taking his wrist. The touch made him feel hot, cool and fucking good at the same time. It was just his damn wrist, what the hell. 

His whole body felt like one sensitive, trembling mess and he just wanted to _whine_ so damn loud that the whole forest could be able to hear it. How much he wanted to scream to be able to let the alpha in front of him mate him. He could, right there. He only had to say a few words and he’d bent over to let the alpha fuck him to his liking and knock him up with a pup he was going to lose a few weeks afterwards. 

But instead the alpha led him away, to god knows where. His body didn’t mind, leaned into the alpha’s touch. He wasn’t more than a fuck toy for the alpha and he’d have to accept it too. His body would love it as well, screaming to be bred, to be fertilized by a strong, protective alpha. Strong alpha’s had strong semen, strong alpha’s had a better chance to fertilize the omega. Strong alpha meant strong offspring, the hope of holding onto the fertilized egg in the womb. 

A little cabin in the woods was the choice of the alpha. He didn’t know how long they’ve been walking, how they even got here, his whole body and mind was set on the alpha. He couldn’t think about anything else. His body and mind was completely focussed on getting fucking bred by this alpha. How much he’d hate it after his heat ended. 

The Alpha made sure the cabin was safe, locked the doors, made sure no walker was inside, before blocking all the door with other furniture so nothing was able to come in. He softly whined to the man as he felt his pants stick to his skin, the slick soaked through his pants, it must’ve been quite long. The alpha growled and showed his slightly longer canines, making him duck his head immediately and showing his neck to the alpha. 

The red eyes trailed his whole body. “Strip.” The voice said to him, thick with alpha voice. Making it unable for him to refuse. But to be honest, right now it wasn’t like he could refuse anything like that. His hands were shaking while he started to remove his t-shirt. Slowly working down his pants, pulling it down simultaneously with his underwear. Leaving him bare naked for the alpha to look over his whole body. The red eyes almost burned into his skin, leaving hot trails all over his body. He let out a soft, needy whine as his knees trembled. He bit his lip roughly, looking at the alpha with his full golden eyes. 

“Down.” The alpha growled and he immediately dropped to his knees. He bent forwards, his elbows low to the ground, his hips high up in the air. Presenting himself to the alpha, his thighs completely slicked up from the arousal, his hole just _ready_ to take an alpha’s cock. The alpha gave him a pleased rumble, running his calloused fingers over his slicked thighs, slowly working more upwards. He pressed his hips more backwards, towards the alpha male. 

The male let out another pleased rumble, as the hands left his body. The warmth returned to his body, making him whimper, actually fucking _whimpered_ , at the loss of the calloused hands that seemed to give his body the relief he needed to have. He looked back at the man, who had stripped his clothes, leaving them scattered all around them. 

His body shivered when he felt the rough, calloused hands running over his back, like the alpha just wanted to feel his soft skin under his hands. He felt the alpha’s hot breath on his skin, which made him tremble in anticipation. He took a shaky breath, softly whining. His whine full of need and want, trying to coax the alpha into breeding him. 

The alpha softly growled, softly biting one of his ass cheeks. He whined and leaned his hips back as he softly whined. Something seemed to snap inside the alpha, since he’d just almost jumped on him, pinning him down beneath his hands. His body stilled under the alpha as he felt the throbbing cock of the alpha pressed against his flesh. 

Once again he pressed back, this time against the cock of the man. And he got rewarded for it as well. It was rough, primal, just like it always had been. No time to prepare, no time to whisper sweet words. Fast, because the knot would last for a long time, but their minds wouldn’t be as clouded as it would be without the knot. For both of them. They could protect themselves with the knot stuck. They could grab a knife and defend themselves. 

The whole cock had sheathed itself in his tight, virgin hole. Back in the days virgin omega’s were a huge price for an alpha. It had something more primal about it. It was dominating, being the first to mark an omega. He whined softly and showed his nape as an offering to the alpha. Completely submitted to the alpha, offering him as a whole to the alpha. 

The man started to thrust into him, rough, fingers roughly holding his hips where bruises were going to form later on, it was hard, fast. There had been no build up at all. Moans escaped his mouth the whole time, he didn’t have any control as the alpha just pounded into him like it depended on his life. He never thought it would be this _intense_. It wasn’t like any movies they’d seen when they were in school, where mating was being explained and showed. 

It had looked more gentle, a loving thing. It had been a lot calmer, not like.. this. This was hot, fast, intense. God, he couldn’t even track when he had come. He didn’t last long, that was one thing he knew. The soft stubble from the small goatee like beard scratched his back in the most pleasant way he’d ever known. The fingers digging into his hips was the most dominating but satisfying thing he’d ever seen. 

It was simply satisfying how the male tried to go deeper with every thrust, like he was trying to get as deep as possible, marking himself there for eternity as the male that had taken his virginity without thinking twice. The alpha groaned softly as he stilled his movements and the knot started to inflate, tugging on his rim that already felt like it was going to be sore. But shit, he felt like he was on cloud nine. Like he was high on the alpha’s scent and every touch. The alpha’s nails softly dug into his skin as he felt the hot pants next to his ear. “Mine.” The alpha softly snarled into his ear. He softly moaned as the alpha’s cum started to flood his insides, on it’s way to his womb. God, he didn’t know how much he had moaned the words ‘alpha’, ‘knot me’, ‘breed me’ and ‘please’, but it had to be an awful lot considering the position he was in. 

Silence. Panting. Daryl was the first one to move, lapping his sweaty, sensitive skin on his nape with his tongue. He softly whimpered and closed his eyes while he let his forehead rest on the wooden floor. “Shit…” He muttered softly when he finally started to think a bit more straight. The alpha was nuzzling his nape with his nose, taking in the sharp scents of an omega who was ripe, ready to be fertilized. 

“Fuck..” he groaned as he closed his eyes tightly. Fuck, fuck, fuck. Everything downed on him, everything that had happened kicked him. “You fucker…” He softly growled to the man almost lying on top of him while they waited for his knot to come down, only to fucking start all over again with the rough thrusts until a new knot had been formed to promote pregnancy. 

“What? So ’s on me now?” the man behind him growled as his own body gave another jerk to another spill of cum that came out of the man’s cock. He looked behind him, the man had laid his head onto his shoulder, his arms around his chest holding him close to the alpha. Most likely to prevent any rupture due to the knot. 

“Yeah!” He growled to the man. Of course it was his fucking fault! He was the person who’d took his deer in the first damn place! “You took my damn deer, took me to your camp, made me stay there until it was too damn late to move!” He snarled at him, but whimpered when the man slowly moved his hips just a tiny bit forward, which caused the knot to move a bit. “It was _my_ deer and I was so generous to share it with ya.” The alpha told him coldly. 

Yeah right. He’d gotten that deer if the man wasn’t there. He softly growled and opened his eyes to look at the wood below him. “’sides, ya shouldn’t be out there on ya own with a heat comin’.” Like he had any other damn choice. He had, once. When he wasn’t so affected by an alpha. But now, shit. He’d want this any damn heat for the rest of his life. “Never had a problem on my own, never been bred before in my damn life.” He growled to the man. 

He could feel the man grin against his skin, of course he was happy. He took his damned virginity from him today. “God fuckin’ –” He groaned as another wave of the alpha’s come went in his insides. It was a weird feeling. He felt so satisfied, filled with an alpha’s dick and full of his come, but shit it wasn’t right. He didn’t want to become pregnant, get more intense heats. He wouldn’t survive on his own anymore. 

“Ya didn’t seem to mind it a bit ago.” And that was supposed to make him feel better? “Fuck you.” He growled to the man, clenching down on his cock with his walls. The alpha softly groaned at the tightness which made the omega huff with a grin on his face. Karma was a bitch. “Wanna come to my place?” Daryl had asked him softly, while caressing his body with those rough, calloused hands, probably from the crossbow he’d been using earlier and the way everyone lived here. Survived. “We have fences, shelter, it’s safe.” 

Safe. 

That was the only thing the alpha wanted to do, keep him safe. Of course he wanted to keep him safe. He could be pregnant with his child if he was going to keep breeding him for the next couple of days, the alpha would do anything to keep the unborn pup and the omega safe. He knew he would be helpless on his own and when another heat would hit him he’d go down. Walkers would devour him, he’d be in no position to defend himself from the walkers. 

But his place probably meant that he was in a group. There could be more alpha’s, more danger for him when he was in heat. He could be used as a damn breeder, because they would want to ‘repopulate’ the earth. He’d come across a group like that before. They didn’t see him, but he sure as hell saw what they were doing on the inside of their pretty community. Women and omega’s were used to repopulate the earth. 

No one cared how they felt, no one cared if they wanted to get pregnant. They just had to. He’d wanted to kill every single one of them, but he couldn’t. Not on his own. He never saw that group again, luckily for him. He’d rather die than just be some breeding machine. But he needed protection. Though he was safe for three months. Considering that most of the conceiving ended up in losing the pup within the first three months. 

“Where you stayin’?” He asked with a frown at the man, who probably looked confused as he didn’t even expect him considering that he’d go with him. He didn’t. Not yet at least. He could use the protection for another heat. When he’d lost the pup. He could stay there. Even though there was a huge chance of him being bred again, he could leave again right after. Just coming and going whenever he wanted to. No one would be able to see him come or go, just like he’d disappeared and never existed. 

“The prison.” Good choice, if he said so himself. The prison had fences, multiple, gates and a lot of cells where they could stay in. It was suffocating, but it was probably better than nothing at this point. Plus it was pretty far from the cities, not a lot of walkers, safer. Whoever the leader was, he’d made the right decision. “I’ll think about it.” He grumbled to the man, looking over his shoulder to the older man. He was definitely older than him. Not too old, probably around his late twenties. “Just… let’s get this over with.” He mumbled with a deep sigh.

It wasn’t like it was going to go away. He needed him now, his heat could only get longer without an alpha and he sure as hell wasn’t going to let him leave now that he stirred his inner omega too much that he was unable to go through an heat without an alpha with him to spend it with. To breed him through this. God, he was utterly fucked.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the heat

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YOU GUYS. I'm so happy with the positive responses to the last chapter! <3 
> 
> So here you guys go!! Another chapter! <3 
> 
> Plus, I added a tag with a lot of swearing, because I do swear a lot in this fic especially, lol. 
> 
> Still very hyped about this fic and I have so much plans already and aah! <3 
> 
> I love you guys!! And I love to hear feedback about the new chapter! :D 
> 
> xx

Three days of breeding was a huge strain on both of their bodies. Hardly getting time to recover, their muscles burning up, hardly time to eat something or drink something. During the knots they managed to drink a little bit and eat some small things, but other the food wasn’t able to provide everything that they needed for their bodies. 

His whole body hurt. Like it had been lit on fire and it wasn’t put out. His body felt heavy, he was sleepy as hell, he wanted to rest so badly. And while his body was hurting like a bitch, his mind was high up in the clouds. He’d curled himself up against the alpha, grasping on to the bodily warmth of the man. It was cold, the sweat on their skins cooling down, the scent in the air still thick with the ripeness of an omega. 

Daryl had his arms wrapped around him, holding him close. The alpha had buried his face in his sticky hair, which was full with sweat, slick and come. God, his whole body was sticky from his slick, his and Daryl’s come and both of their sweat. He closed his eyes, quite enjoying the soft touches of the calloused hands his body started to get to know. The callus on the man’s hands gave an even rougher feeling to it all. 

He bit his lip as he heard the growling outside, god how much of them would be out there? Even with furniture to keep the doors from opening he wondered what would happen if the door broke down. If Daryl here behind him would help him to get out of here, or leave him to die, devoured by walkers now he was out of his heat. Some alpha’s did that, leave the omega’s to die. Or well, in the former community to just leave them alone. Just happy that they’d could breed them for days. 

“How old ‘re ya?” He frowned at the question, looking back over his shoulder at the man. What had that to do with anything? Jesus. They fucked the life out of each other the last couple of days and the man just wanted to get to know what his age was? He rolled his eyes, they weren’t going to be buddy-buddy now that they’d bred. He was already happy enough that the man didn’t mate him. He did say ‘Mine’ a lot, but that wasn’t weird. The alpha had claimed him on the inside, the man had fucked him over and over again, left markings all over his body. It wasn’t weird for him to say that he was his. 

He took a deep breath and laid down again, because jeez, his body needed so much rest. “I’m twenty-four.” He said calmly to the man, though his words were layered with the thick hint that he didn’t want to talk about things like this. What was there to talk about? “How come you never been bred before?” He bit roughly on his lip, jesus. Why did it matter? It just didn’t happen, move on. He let out a soft, irritated groan and pushed his back more against the alpha’s chest. Goose bumps had spread itself on his body, getting colder by the minute. It wasn’t the warmest season of the year, it cooled down quite a bit in the night, especially if you were wet and sticky. 

“C’mon, I’ll get ya somewhere warmer.” Daryl mumbled in his ear, which made him look at Daryl with a glimpse of warning in his eyes. He coaxed his body in getting up, slowly but surely. He was in a sitting position right now and damn, his hips were aching in a way that he never felt before and the blush that had formed onto his face when he could feel the mixture of his slick and Daryl’s come slowly dripping out made him feel so self-conscious. 

When he wanted to stand up his hips gave in almost immediately, which ended back with him on the ground. He softly groaned and looked up at the alpha who looked at him with a grin and who seemed to try his laughter in. “You goin’ to help me or what?” He growled to the alpha, who nodded slowly and chuckled lightly. The male crouched in front of him to wrap one of his arms in the hollows of his knees. The other arm grabbed him around his hips, which made him bite his lip a bit. “Hold on tight.” Daryl told him and for a moment he wanted to protest. 

He’d been holding on to this man for way too long, but there was no other way to get away other than crawl. He wrapped his arms around the man’s neck, clinging onto it as if his life depended on it. Daryl let out a calming rumble, as to ease his thoughts and he lowered his head purely out of instinct. Even now his heat was over, his instincts were mountain high. 

Daryl carried him upstairs and he cursed himself. He was way too weak, he couldn’t protect himself in any way possible. Only when they were too close, but even then. Their weapons were downstairs. He looked at the male and softly laid his head against the shoulder. His body was tired, he himself was tired. He was cold and sleepy, basically. Maybe a bit hungry, but that was not his highest priority at the moment. 

Daryl went into a room like he’d just knew what they’d find in there, but then again he’d checked if the house was safe from walkers. The wood under Daryl’s feet made squeaking noises, creaking with every step Daryl took. He closed his eyes slowly, the warmth of the alpha’s skin was welcoming on his cold skin. The musky, alpha scent that had made his place instead of the aroused one was pretty comfortable, though he would never say that aloud to anyone. 

His body met soft fabric, which made him smile softly. Blankets were put around him, the warmth welcoming and god- the softness of the fabric was just heaven. It had been more than a half year ago he’d slept on a mattress and damn that one wasn’t as comfortable as this one. They’d always had the cheapest mattresses, sometimes they even made their own ones with straw. Hell, this one was really comfortable. 

He couldn’t sleep though, not yet. Daryl had left the room, leaving him alone again for the first time in days. And god, his body still ached for the touches of this alpha. Not that he’d ever tell Daryl, he’d only be damn pleased with himself as an alpha. When the stairs made their sounds again he slowly looked up. Always stay alert, because maybe it _was_ a walker. And if it was he’d have to think fast. So his first choice would probably the lamp on the nightstand. 

But the footsteps were too quick to be one from a walker, he felt himself ease up a bit, though he didn’t _want_ the alpha, he still was the best choice he got right now. He was too vulnerable right now to handle anything else and the fatigue that had hit him like a wave was hard to keep fighting. 

He did feel relieved when it was Daryl who came into the room. Their things in his arms as he’d dropped them somewhere in the room. Once again he placed furniture before the door, just to be sure. The man seemed to hesitate for a moment as he looked over at the bed. He rolled his eyes and turned himself on his side, closing his eyes. He didn’t care what the man was going to do. As long as he’d stay in the room and didn’t dare to steal his things, he’d be just fine that way. 

When he felt the movement in the bed he stayed quiet, stayed right where he was. Not moving the slightest inch. He could feel the warm breaths against his neck. He could feel goose bumps spreading all over his body. He kept laying still, though. Almost like he was trying not to scare an animal off. He felt another movement, probably of the man turning around. He took a small breath and closed his eyes slowly. He didn’t need an alpha to keep him close, he’d rather not have one. 

It wasn’t long before sleep caught up to him, which wasn’t the weirdest thing since he literally had no sleep while being in heat. And even though the two men had shared so many bodily connections in those three days, they still slept with their backs turned to each other. 

______________

When he woke up the sun was shining, lighting the room they were sleeping in. He took a deep breath as he licked his dry lips and stretch his neck slightly. Apart from the usual groaning outside, there had been one other sound in the room. Soft snores came from the alpha’s body, which made him roll his eyes. Of course he snored. He turned around, wanting to give him just a slight push to make him stop snoring. Or better: wake up and get the hell out of here. His things were somewhere up in a tree, the things he didn’t take on his hunt. 

But he didn’t see a nice thing. He didn’t want to push anymore and instead froze right in his place. Scars were all over Daryl’s back. He hadn’t seen that during the sex, of course. Daryl had been on top the whole time pounding into him. There had been no way that he’d been able to see that. He felt a lump in the back of his throat. Everyone had scars, mentally or physically. He should’ve known that. The people who survived were rough people. Like him, like the person right in front of him. 

He softly traced a scar with his fingers, they were quite big, quite lumpy as well. This wasn’t sutured or had gotten any help. He’d recognized it, not from himself but there had been a lot of times he had to treat his mom. His mom always took blows. God, he didn’t want to think about it anymore, it still hurt to think about what she had gone through. Mostly because she was a single omega parent with an omega son as well. She had peace, right now. She was in peace. She had died in her sons arms and not alone. That was everything he’d been able to give her. 

He could feel the man tense up underneath his fingers, most scars looked really old, these were from before the apocalypse, that was one thing he was certain of. He removed his hand from Daryl’s back, he knew how his mom had reacted when he saw them the first time. She had broken down, telling him she was fine, that it was nothing. But he knew that it _was_ something. It didn’t happen from a simple fall. She always gave him the sweetened story, the lies. He knew the truth, but he never said anything about it. Instead he helped her cleaning the wound, learned to stitch as well. 

Daryl slowly turned around, looking into his blue eyes. His eyes were sharp, almost eagle-like. Searching for answers in his own blue eyes. Instead of giving him the answers he was searching for, he looked back at him with determination. He wasn’t backing down, didn’t give him any answers his eyes were searching for. Nothing. He could do whatever he wanted. Even in front of an alpha. He could do with his body whatever he liked and he sure as hell didn’t want an alpha to fuss about every single thing he did. He had been fine on his own for seven months, it wasn’t like he couldn’t do it anymore. He just had to play it smart. 

“Ya thought ‘bout comin’ with me?” the man asked him calmly and he swallowed. Play is straight. Play it good. He was hurting right now, he was weaker than he was before. He could use a few days of rest until his body was fully healed. “My thangs..” He calmly said to the man. “Need my thangs.” He continued to say to him. No way in hell was he going to leave his bag in a tree. He needed those things in there. His most important things were in there. 

The man looked at him with a frown and pointed over to the improved back made of the deer’s skin. “Those are ya stuff.” The man told him calmly. He rolled his eyes and slowly got up, gritting his teeth. Jesus, that still hurt like a bitch. His hips sure as hell were going to be sore for a while. God, he wanted to clean himself up as well. There had to be rests in there, a mixture of the alpha’s semen and his slick, still inside of him. He wanted it out, by this time the egg would’ve been fertilized. Meaning, he was basically already pregnant. Most omega’s already conceived on the first day of breeding, but to be sure the body made sure you felt the need to breed for three whole days. Five if no alpha has come yet by the third day. 

The egg would’ve been fertilized already by the first day after the heat if they’d been bred non-stop. And well, he knew he was. His whole body felt like it too. “I have more thangs. Not huntin’ with all of my thangs.” He said with a soft growl to the man. “I want my thangs. After that I’ll come with you.” Daryl narrowed his eyes and let out a soft growl. Okay, he didn’t like him being bossy. But that’s what you’d get from him. He wasn’t just a pussy ass omega who’d bent over for the alpha’s. He was his own personality and he was going to make sure that he was never going to change. Even if he was going to be exactly that person during the heats, outside of the heats he’d let them know. He’d have his own opinions, he was strong and not some weak son of a bitch. 

But, just a small play, in that case. He needed the man to get his things. No way in hell was he able to climb a tree to get his things. Not in this condition. He turned around and looked at the man with soft eyes, almost begging. “Please.. There are.. important thangs in there.” He softly said to the man, who seemed to be surprised by the fact his words could sound so vulnerable. Yeah, lying was something you had to learn on the streets. He had learned it as a kid, begging on the streets after school for some money. To make sure mom could have some extra as well. He never kept his own money, he always gave it to his mom with pride. 

At that moment his mom thought he was going to be an alpha when he grew up. He always acted like some kind of leader, picked up the lead when necessary and other children had actually listened to him. Well, nature likes to play jokes at you, since he was an omega. Just like his mom. When he had presented at home his mom had been happy that it didn’t happen somewhere in the city. God, if he didn’t have his mom he had already been bred so many times. It was all thanks to her, that he was still standing here, strong, trying to survive. Like his mom had wanted for him. 

“Fine.” The man said calmly. “We’ll get ya stuff and aft’r we goin’ directly to camp.” Daryl told him, it was obvious that he had to stick to that plan, but at least he’d get his things back, which was a huge improvement for him. He just hoped no one had stumbled already on his things, though when people were walking in the forest they didn’t really seem to care to look up into the trees. He’d get that, why look up in the trees while the danger could be lurking around you on the ground? That was why trees where the safest place to be, because no-one would look there and you’d be safe from the things lurking on the ground. They couldn’t climb a tree and as long as you don’t make a sound, they wouldn’t look up as well. Easy as that. 

He slowly got up and softly whimpered when he could just feel it sliding down his legs. The remains of the thing they had done, the remains of the breeding. His hips felt weak, hurting with each step. He was probably a bit wobbly as well, but he didn’t care. He wasn’t going to be weak. And if he was weak and get bit? Than that was how it was meant to be. He grabbed his clothes and started to dress himself, even though his pants were just stained from the slick he’d been making, it wasn’t like it wasn’t going to stain again, with the remains dripping out of his hole like that. 

Daryl started to get dressed as well, looking pretty eager to get his shirt on before anything else. Like he had never seen the scars on his back. And if that’s what he wanted to play, he would. Because he couldn’t survive on his own right now and the fact that he had to lean on the alpha already was a punishment, but he didn’t want to hear all those sad backstories. He didn’t want to know, now or never. He only needed some healing up to do and after that he’d be back on the road. Some protection, instead of sitting in a tree with a sore arse. 

“Ya ready?” He rolled with his eyes and just glared at the man. He was born ready, damn it. He grabbed his knife and readied it, just in case. There was a huge possibility that there were in fact walkers inside the house, lured in by the scent of living people in there. And if they hadn’t come in yet, it was almost a hundred percent certainty that the living dead were waiting for them to come outside, waiting for their breakfast, or lunch or dinner, to be served to them. He had never been really afraid of the living dead. Maybe a bit in the beginning. When they didn’t know how to handle them. But after he knew, it was almost like you could read them, like he’d knew exactly what they were going for. They would always try and grab you first, before biting down. They’ll never bite first and then grab. Always grabbing first. 

They softly walked through the house, Daryl in front of him. If there had been any walker upstairs, they should’ve come out already, due to the furniture they had to move from the door, which, well, made pretty much noise. So at least they knew that they didn’t have to worry about upstairs, which was great. Daryl was the first person to enter the room downstairs and signed to him that he had to wait. He rolled his eyes, he could’ve done this by himself, really. But the alpha male wanted to show again, how good he was, how big of an alpha he was. It was all purely based on instinct. The other male wanted to prove to his newly bred omega that he could keep him safe, that he didn’t have to worry about anything. 

Daryl came back and with a nod of his head said it was clear downstairs as well it was upstairs. He slowly narrowed his eyes and started to walk through the living room, where there was indeed no walkers. He took a relieved breath and slowly, quietly manoeuvred himself towards one of the windows, slowly dragging the curtains away and looking between the wooden planks that kept the windows from opening. From what he could see was that there were about twenty of them. Only in the front. God knows how many in the back. Shit, they fucked up. He looked over to Daryl and shook his head. Holding up both hands and pushing them twice to let him know that there were at least twenty walkers outside of the house. 

Waiting until the walkers would move was not an option. The scent of the living would linger in here for days and there could come more of them. And that door, even though it was blocked with furniture, wasn’t going to hold forever. So they had to figure something out, otherwise it would just be a waiting game until they’d die. He went to every window, quietly, trying to avoid making noise any way possible. His eyes widened when he saw something like a barrel. Not just a wooden barrel or anything. It was from metal. He waved his hand trying to get Daryl’s attention and beckoned him that he had to come his way. 

As soon as Daryl arrived next to him he pointed at the metallic kind of barrel and looked at the alpha. He had to have some idea for that right? The barrel would make noise and with the noise the walkers would walk away from the house to see what’s going on. After most of them would leave they could make a run for it. Easy as that. But they did need to make some noise which would draw them away from them instead of drawing them towards them. He didn’t have his things with him, so there was no way he’d have something with him to make noise. That’s why he looked at the other man, hoping he had something. But when the male shook his head he just wanted to hit the man so bad. He just wanted to make a run for it, to be honest. He wanted to get out of this suffocating house which was surrounded. 

Than there was only one thing left to do. Search the house for something that was going to make noise. He walked upstairs, he had seen the balcony but he hadn’t dared to go up there while searching for a place to get out. But right now it could be their only chance. He’d grabbed some things to throw and as soon as he was on the balcony he climbed, and god that hurt, onto the roof. He took a deep breath, not daring to look down. One simple mis step and he’d fall down. If he wasn’t dead on impact the walkers would simply devour him. He didn’t like the roofs which weren’t simply flat. He slowly manoeuvred himself on the roof, without Daryl probably even knowing what he was up to. 

As soon as he put himself in the right position, he started to throw things to the metallic barrel, hoping it would make enough noise to draw the walkers there. It was a desperate move, he’d knew that, but if it worked it worked. He wouldn’t complain about that. When the walkers actually turned around and started to walk away he wanted to scream for his victory. Well, he didn’t of course. As quiet as he could he went down the roof and almost rushed downstairs, beckoning the alpha with him. They quickly removed the furniture and just ran. As quickly as they could. They just ran away from the place. And he hoped he’d leave the memories behind as well. 

They kept running until they couldn’t anymore. Panting he grabbed the nearest tree to make sure he wouldn’t fall over and he closed his eyes, trying to take deep breaths to make sure his body would get enough oxygen in it’s system. After he started to feel a bit more assured he softly chuckled and shook his head. Of course. He opened his eyes, only to find Daryl stare at him with confusion. Ah, wasn’t something he was allowed to know. Just a little inside fun. “Let’s get my thangs. And go to your place.” He told Daryl with a nod, because his body felt like he could just sleep for hours and hours to come. The man slowly nodded and off they went.

The way to his tree was quiet, neither of them felt the urge to talk. What was there to say? Nothing right? And talking would only lure walkers in as well, so he’d rather not talk if he was honest. And Daryl probably felt the same way. The fact that he was stuck with this man irritated him, but damn he wanted to lay down and sleep for days. He couldn’t do that on his own, that would be more than dangerous. So he’d just have to put up with the man, who seemed more than just pleased that he was coming with him. He said he’d come, yes. He didn’t say for how long he’d stay. That was a complete different matter. 

He remembered the tree like it was water, so natural as it can be. He softly smiled and looked up, seeing his bag still intact, which made him sigh out of pure relief. His things would still all be inside, which was good. He looked at the man and swallowed. “C’mon, grab it tiger.” He said to the man while he cocked his hip a bit, his hand leaning on the other side of his hip. He couldn’t help himself to say that, just to get on the man’s nerves. He deserved to put this man on his nerves damn it. After these days he’d definitely had been allowed to do that. “What?” the man scoffed, narrowing his eyes while he watched him. Really? He was even going to do like he didn’t know anything about it? 

He rolled his eyes and looked at the man. “I can’t climb because someone drilled his cock into my ass for three days straight.” He said casually, but still kind of sassy. He couldn’t help it, it was just simply stating the truth. Because of that he wasn’t able to climb. Hell, he’d love to climb but after the whole escaping-the-place-where-we-fucked catastrophe his hips were all worn out and fuck how much he’d love to just to lay down and relieve his hips from the strain it had been put on the last couple of days. Daryl looked at him with a glare, but decided to go up there while he stayed down and stayed on watch for any walkers that could come at him. 

Within ten minutes Daryl had landed beside him and offered him his bag. Thank god. He didn’t want to lose these things. His whole survival kit was in there and he wouldn’t lose it even if it would get him killed. “Can we go now?” Daryl said with a deep sigh and he nodded. “Yea, got my thangs. We can go.” He said calmly. Daryl muttered something under his breath that almost sounded like _fuckin’ finally_ , but he wasn’t so sure. He didn’t want to fight about small things and get left behind in the forest. 

He didn’t know where to go and where to turn, so he was just behind the man, slowly walking and following the man. If this whole ‘safe’ place was a lie he would just kill the man, he wouldn’t be afraid of that. He needed that place, but the man didn’t seem like a person who’d lie. That was one thing he was almost sure of. It took a while, a long time, but as soon he saw the fences he knew it hadn’t been a lie. Not at all. But when he saw all the walkers at the fence he grimaced a bit. Really? Daryl rose his hand, as a sign that he should wait and he grabbed his knife and looked around him. Just to see if there was any walker nearby. 

Daryl walked outside the bushes and whistled. Not long after that people rushed to the fences and started to make noise away from something, probably the way in. Daryl turned around to him and beckoned him to come out of the forest line. He slowly walked out there and it was Daryl who started to walk a bit faster to a place which was closed with something like string, it was more elastic than that though. He just didn’t know it, probably. Daryl opened it quickly and opened his arm as a sign that he had to go first. He didn’t wait long, almost diving into the ‘safe’ place. He didn’t know how safe it’d be. Daryl followed quickly and closed it again. The people stopped making sound immediately and Daryl walked in front of him again, towards god knows where. 

There had been a couple more fences where they had to go through, before entering a field with no walkers in sight. It felt unnatural for him now, to be here, but it was great to see all the space. A young girl rushed towards Daryl to hug him tightly. “Man, we almost thought you were dead.” An Asian boy spoke to Daryl with a relieved smile. “Nah, just had… somethin’ keepin’ me up.” He almost wanted to growl at that, but that probably wouldn’t give a great first impression right? 

“Carol’s going to kill you for staying away for so long.” The Asian boy continued with a laugh, before noticing him. Man, they were really bad at noticing things right? “Who’s that?” The girl let go of Daryl, she was blonde, pretty, a bit too young for him but he wouldn’t judge in a world where everything went to shit. Daryl turned around to him, looking him straight into his eyes. “Rick.” Daryl told them calmly. 

He was probably looking at them like some wild animal, his chest risen and making himself big. It wasn’t how he wanted to come over, really, it had become something automatic. Something he just did when he met new people – He didn’t like people. How could he like people when they always treated him like trash? “So.. why is he with you?” He put his knife away and glared at the man. “None of your business.” He growled to the man. Even though the question was pointed at Daryl, he was here and he was going to speak for himself. He wasn’t going to let himself be treated like he wasn’t even there. “Where’s Shane?” Daryl asked the Asian with a deep sigh. 

What? Was he disappointed in his behaviour? He wasn’t going to play all sweet. Especially not to these people. Or this ‘Shane’ guy whoever it was going to be. “Probably in the block, with Lori.” With how many people were they here? Jesus. Daryl looked over to him, his eyes narrowing in a warning, as he grabbed him at his arm and started to drag him along. He wanted to pull his arm back, coming here was a mistake. He just wanted to lay down and sleep. “Ya gonna be nice to Shane. He’ll put ya outside the gates with no problem at all.” He rolled his eyes. Yeah like he couldn’t take care of himself or anything. 

“Yeah yeah.” He grumbled to the man, so this ‘Shane’ was probably their leader. Another fucking alpha, probably. He hoped he was less worse than the alpha dragging him there. Because _god_ he wanted to go away from him. Can’t he go outside the fences and leave him here? That would be great thank you. They entered the prison with no problem at all. Walking through the halls that were once owned by the prisoners and the guards. 

A man looked up and began to smile, but as soon as he saw him his face turned more coldly. He rose to his feet and Daryl let go of his arm, which was more him pulling his arm back as he glared at the man. “What happened man?” Shane asked him, his eyes stuck on him instead of Daryl. He clenched his teeth on top of another, yeah Daryl. Go and tell them what happened. “Was trackin’ a deer. This guy here thought it was his. Decided ta share. He camped at my place as well, ‘s gettin’ late.” He slowly told him. Yeah right. The deer was fucking his. Even though the Alpha still claimed it was his catch, that wasn’t true. It was _his_ fucking deer. 

“The day after he went inta heat.” He looked sharply at the man and let out a soft growl. How dare he just drop this on the man sitting in front of him. The man cocked his head to the side and slowly rose to his feet. “A lone omega?” Shane asked Daryl in full curiosity. He locked eyes with the alpha and narrowed his eyes. What? Another person who thought they were fucking weak? He’d show him. “Yeah, told me he was never bred ‘fore.” Shane looked at Daryl and slowly nodded. “So why is he here?” What? He was meaning to send him away? Fine by him, this looked like a shithole anyway. Daryl placed an arm around his shoulders and he looked with a sharp gaze towards the alpha. Oh no, he was not going to pull that shit on him. 

“Can’t leave ‘m Shane. What if he ends up pregnant with a pup?” God he sure as hell hoped that wouldn’t happen. He didn’t want to be pregnant with this alpha’s fucking pup. Hell, he didn’t want to be pregnant at all. Even if it still stirred up him on the inside, his body _wanting_ to be pregnant. That was where omega’s were meant to do right? Just keep breeding and keep bearing pups for their alpha like a little slut. “Is he fit enough to join us?” Shane asked him, placing a hand on his own hip. Shane did look like a strong alpha, strong muscles, a bit more bulkier than Daryl’s body. It just screamed alpha. “Yeah, bit stubborn and grumpy, but he’s fine. Saved me from a walker ‘fore the heat and got us outta a house surrounded by at least twenty walkers.” 

Oh so _now_ he was starting to praise him. He hold himself back from rolling his eyes. “He’s not like any of the omega’s I’ve known.” He held back a growl, yeah because they probably never got the chance to prove themselves. Fucking damnit. Instead he let out a disapproving snort, which made Daryl and Shane look to him. “Prick.” He grumbled to the archer, not even caring what was at stake right in front of them. 

Shane walked away for a bit, probably to decide what to do. “Great impression.” Daryl growled to him, which made him roll his eyes. Yeah like it was much better to get to know a person who didn’t act like he was. At least they knew with what kind of person they were dealing with. “Well I’m sorry prince fuckin’ charmin’, want me to bend over and make it up to you?” He said tilting his head and narrowing his eyes. The alpha softly growled at that response and tightened the hand which was laying on his shoulder. “Yeah, you’d like that right?” He growled, stepping on the alpha’s foot – hard. Piece of shit. 

Daryl jumped around a bit and let go of him as he looked over to Shane who seemed to watch them. Yeah, watch. Watch him taking care of himself. He could do that, he wasn’t some helpless bitch that needed help. He could go outside on his own, he could do things for himself. He knew how to scavenge at all that kind of things. Shane returned to him and he stared at the man, almost challenging. Want him to prove himself? He would. He cocked his head and clenched his teeth, staring into the brown eyes of the alpha. 

“He can have a trial period. A week. You’re taking care of him in that period.” What? He wanted to growl, but the alpha didn’t seem quite done with his talk. “And he’ll stay within the first gate.” So.. the place just outside the prison and the prison itself? What was this for confinement? There went his plan of leaving after a few days. He stayed silent as he watched the man, reaching his hand out to him. “Shane, welcome to the group.” Shane told him with a careful smile. He sighed and grabbed the hand, shaking it firmly. “Rick, glad to be here.” He tried not to sound sarcastic or anything, or to lash out at the alpha, but there was probably a slight hint of it. Daryl had picked up on it at the very least. 

“Where’s he sleepin’?” Daryl asked Shane calmly. Shane turned his head but he was pretty sure he saw enough to conclude the grin on his face. “This week he’s sleeping in your bed. If he’s proven himself good he’ll get his own bed.” A _week_ in Daryl’s bed? With _him_? Jesus. He wasn’t sure if he’d be able to do that. Daryl just nodded and slowly walked away, probably to the place where he slept. 

To the left there were a lot of prisons, a lot of personal things were inside. That must be where the people slept and claimed the space as theirs. Daryl walked up the stairs, wait, he wasn’t sleeping in a prison cell was he? He opened the door to the place where guards could overlook the prisons. It wasn’t a big space, but it was enough. He sat down, feeling the mattress under him. God, it felt good. It was better than all the trees he spent his time in, at least. “Gotta meet the rest first, but ya can put ya stuff in here for now.” The man said, obviously not amused. He rolled his eyes once again and shit, he was going to do that a lot in this place. “Don’t go and think I’m fuckin’ amused by this. You’re the last person I want to sleep with.” He growled to the man, putting his things down and standing up, looking into the blue eyes. “It’s your fault anyway.” He growled, leaving with those words. 

Meanwhile some people had gathered downstairs, looking at him like he was some kind of rare animal they never saw before in their life. Though the attention of one woman was completely Daryl, hugging the man with a relieved face. And Daryl actually hugged the woman back, softly patting her back. Soft words were exchanged and he decided to look at the rest of the group. He’d probably look like shit, dirty, walker blood all over his clothes. “What?” He said, placing a hand on his aching hip and looking at every person. 

There were quite a lot of people, but less than he expected. There was that Asian guy, a slightly taller girl next to him, the young blonde girl, an somewhat elderly man with only one leg, a dark skinned woman, the woman that was hugging Daryl, a dark skinned man, Shane and a woman with an arm around the man. He looked at the people, what the hell was he supposed to do. “I’m Rick. Rick Grimes.” He finally said to the people in front in them. “And _yes_ , I’m an omega.” He told them in all seriousness. Some eyes flicked to Daryl, other to Shane. The woman with an arm around Shane definitely looked at Shane. “No, I’m not goin’ to bend over for anyone.” He continued with a stern look on his face. “And yes, I survived for all those months on my own. Until he came along.” 

He hadn’t meant to say the last sentence, but ah well. It was out in the open now. He sighed tried to ease his sore body for a bit. “So.. that’s it. That’s me.” He finally said, waiting for any response. “Well, I told you he’s interesting right?” Shane said with a positive grin on his face. Like he was glad he’d been talking about himself like that. Lori looked up to him with a frown on her face and he knew exactly what she was thinking about. That he was about to steal her man. Well, that’s great for her that she thought about that, but he sure as hell wasn’t interested in that man. In any man. “So, Hershel, if you’d like. Would you look him over? Make sure everything is okay?” 

The elder man nodded and moved himself towards him with crutches. Look, that’s someone he could respect. “Come with me, son.” The man had told him calmly and he softly nodded, following the man on crutches. He looked at Daryl, who was still talking to this woman, who obviously liked him. Well, good for him. He cheated on her with him. Hershel led him into one of the prison cells and put the crutches down, sitting on the bed. “Sit down son.” He relaxed some more and slowly sat down with a soft smile. 

He removed his shirt and Hershel did a basic health check just to make sure he was alright. And god, he never felt comfortable like that for a while. “How’d you lose your leg?” He asked him out of nowhere, the man looked up to him and softly smiled. “Walker bite, Shane acted fast and chopped off my leg.” He told him calmly and he looked at him with almost an open mouth. Really? “Shit, sorry to hear that.” He softly mumbled to the man, who just shook his head in response. “I’m fine, thanks to Shane. Can see my daughters for a bit longer now.” He said with a proud smile on his face. He couldn’t help to smile as well. He was a tough person, he knew that now. 

“What are their names?” He asked him with a soft smile. The man completely brightened up, talking about his daughters. It was good to know that some dads did care about their children. Especially alpha’s. Because it was obvious the older man was an alpha, he didn’t reek of it, like Shane, but he was. “Beth is my youngest daughter. The blonde. Maggie is my oldest daughter, she’s dating the Korean, Glenn.” He slowly nodded and softly huffed a laugh. “They are lucky to have you.” He said with a soft smile to him. 

It sounded weird, coming from him. This man was an alpha, but looking at him while he proudly talked about his children.. It made him happy there were still alpha’s like that, even in this fucked up world. The man smiled back at him and shook his head. “No, I’m lucky to have them in my life.” He looked at the man with respect, he respected this man. He was a good dad, a good alpha. Calm, but still superior. “Thank you.” He almost whispered to the man, so soft was his voice while speaking. The man smiled and shook his head. “Not a problem. If you ever want to talk, I’ll be around.” He nodded with a soft smile and rose to his feet. He nodded once again, before walking to the exit of the prison cell. 

“You hoping to keep that pup?” He looked back at the man, who looked at him with serious eyes. He slowly shook his head and softly smiled at the man. “Nah.. Don’t want it to be his. And not a good time at all to become pregnant, huh?” He said with a chuckle to the man, looking forward again. “He’s a good man you know. Bit defensive of himself, but he is a good man.” He snorted almost at the words. Yeah, right. If only he hadn’t taken his deer and bred him the day after he’d might believe that. 


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rick is trying to accomodate... but he's not very good at that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IT'S BEEN TWO MONTHS I'M ASHAMED OF MYSELF.   
> I'm sorry omg. But here is a new chapter of this fic! I enjoy writing these so much oml.   
> So... there is a part where he's dreaming and I used a dutch song so I had to translate it. The writers do have an english version of it but I don't like that version, lol.   
> If you are interested in the song (in dutch) it's this song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19tnzs9wEvI "Pak maar m'n hand - Nick & Simon" or in English: "Take my hand - Nick & Simon". c: 
> 
> Did y'all hear the news about Andrew lincoln because my heart is just broken because of this news :"( It makes me so sad.
> 
> Anyway, enjoy this chapter <3

He had been here for three days now and to be honest? He was bored out of his mind. He wanted to do something. He was just sitting somewhere in the prison, sometimes with someone, other times just alone. Sometimes he was outside, within the first fence of course, to watch the people outside work and he wished he could do that as well. He’d rather work than sit on his ass and do nothing. Though the first day of rest was pretty nice for his abused body. 

He did have time to get to know the people here, if they spoke to him at least. There were still people who didn’t trust him or simply didn’t have the balls to talk to him. He had good impressions of most people, some better some annoying. But at least he knew the group by now, luckily.

Hershel was most definitely his favourite person from this prison. He was calm, superior and just respectable. He didn’t look down on him, he just simply talked to him like he was a decent person. And he loved it. It wasn’t a surprise to anyone he hung around that man when his daughters were outside. His youngest pup, Beth, was a sweetheart. He kind of enjoyed being around her. She was innocent, though. He was pretty sure she’d never survive for a day on her own outside the gates. 

She never killed a walker, unlike Maggie who’d killed multiple ones, even helped out clearing the prison if he had to believe Beth’s stories. She told him that most people from this group, with the exception of her, Hershel and Maggie, were from Atlanta and they’d stumbled on the farm with Carol’s daughter being shot. She didn’t make it, sadly and they had to put her down. 

Lori always looked at him with a frown and also with that judging look. Because he was an omega. She probably thought he was lower than low and wasn’t afraid to show him that she thought she was better than him. Well, he’d love to see her survive on her own, try to fix her own meals and such. Because to be honest? She would die before Beth would. Beth seemed like a smart girl, she could figure something out, but Lori? She wasn’t clever at all. She was just getting in Shane’s way.

Shane, he didn’t really know what to think about that man. An alpha, as expected, but also the pack alpha. He came to check up on him regularly and sometimes just watched him from a distance. He always acted like he didn’t see him watching him, but he knew that he was watching. And he wasn’t too happy with it. Beth had told him Shane had been a cop before this all had happened and that she was glad to have a person like him in their group.

Yeah, like the law was still a thing in a world like this. 

Carol was a pretty shy woman, who seemed pretty close with Daryl. She mostly did some cooking and cleaning. He offered her once to help her with cooking and she had shyly agreed to it. They didn’t talk during the cooking, but at least he was doing something. Apart from being a shy woman he didn’t really get to know her, but he assumed she was okay. 

Glenn was the Korean boy he met the first day he had arrived. He wasn’t really a threat or anything, he seemed like a good boy. A bit protective of his girlfriend though. Even though the man wasn’t even an alpha, he was pretty protective over her like he was. Even if the man knew that he was an omega. Scared that he was going to hurt her pretty face. But, without Maggie around, which wasn’t a lot, he was a pretty good guy. Funny as well. 

Maggie stayed away from him a lot. She didn’t really seem to trust him. He couldn’t blame her, he didn’t trust these people as well, with the exception of Hershel who seemed like a genuinely good guy, so why should she trust him? They didn’t even talk once in the three days he had stayed her. 

Axel and Oscar were two prisoners who lived in the other block, Beth had told him. They helped them to their own cellblock because they couldn’t be trusted with their own group. That’s what Shane had decided for the group. 

Terence, also called “T-dog” by the group seemed to trust him, but didn’t talk to him at all. More like avoiding him. And he didn’t mind, really. He didn’t want to make friends with everybody, it was already suffocating that he had this many people around him. He was used to being alone and before that only with his mom. 

And then there was Daryl. God, he _hated_ him. Luckily for him he was out hunting for most of the time, so he didn’t have to see his fucking head every time he turned around. Because when he was there, with them, he always looked his way. He always kept an eye on him, whatever he was doing. Like he had to be watched like a little child. No, no, that was wrong to think. Daryl didn’t look at him like a little child, he was looking like he was _his_ omega and he needed to protect him. 

Well, he shouldn’t be thinking that, because he’d win in a fight between them. He knew he would. He didn’t need some alpha protector. He was perfectly fine and could protect himself. Daryl had muscles, sure, but he was quite clever if he was allowed to say that about himself. He rubbed his beard softly, what’d you expect? He wasn’t able to shave for six months. 

Sleeping with Daryl was the most horrible thing Shane decided. The bed was cramped and there was no other way to sleep in that bed than with Daryl’s chest against his back and an arm around his body. Because there was simply no more room between them than that. And if that wasn’t bad enough he smelled like Daryl as well every day. And it irritated him, how he smelled like the alpha every day. Like he was some claimed omega sleeping with its mate. 

He’d rather kill himself than be mates with that man. God, he hoped the man didn’t have any weird ideas in his mind about being his alpha or whatever. Probably not, because most of the time when they talked it was more swear words than a real conversation. He was probably the only man here the alpha had been… ‘intimate’ with, but talking? No that was one of the things they just simply didn’t do. And don’t get him wrong, it wasn’t like he wants to talk to him. Hell no, he doesn’t want to talk to him at all if he was honest. 

Even now Daryl had an arm around him, not holding him close, just merely placed it around him because he had to lay his arm somewhere, so it had been loosely around him. His back against Daryl’s chest, the warm breaths that touched his neck. And, not forgetting the snores he had to hear all the damn time when the man was sleeping. He’d hit Daryl once, very casually, with his elbow to make the man stop from snoring. Because it could be damn annoying if you couldn’t sleep because of it. So he just used his elbow to wake the man up. It wasn’t like he slept deep and he didn’t blame him for not, because in this period you didn’t want to sleep very deeply. Just in case that something happened. 

You didn’t want to be fast asleep when something happened, he knew it as well. He was a very light sleeper because he was used to sleeping in the trees, that’s why he was awoken pretty fast by the snores of the hunter. Who would’ve thought that the hunter was a snorer huh? Pretty idiotic while hunting. 

He didn’t see the scars anymore, purely because of the fact that the man never undressed as much as that time when they bred. And he was glad that he didn’t see those scars anymore, because they reminded him too much of his own past. He went into his pocket and grabbed the picture folded in there and opened it. It had become an habit, looking at her. It was a picture when he was just born, when her sister had made this picture while she was still alive. His mom was holding him with the most beautiful smile he’d ever known. 

He had multiple picture’s of her, most of them in his bag. He just kept one with him, just in case something went wrong, or he’d get bit.. He wanted to look at his mom for his last moments. Just because she had been the most important person in his whole life. He didn’t move when he felt Daryl moving, just lied completely frozen, staring at his moms picture. He felt Daryl’s face against his shoulder, the warm breaths against his skin. 

He always tended to get pretty hot under the covers, so he undressed pretty much. Well, he’d remove his shirt at the least. Because he didn’t want to lay next to the alpha with only wearing an underwear to cover himself with. But that did mean that Daryl’s head was laying skin to skin with his back. He could hear the man getting more lightly in his sleep, which meant they’d have their awkward morning greetings again, like the last days. 

He just focussed on the soft features of his mom. He hoped she would be happy that he found a pretty safe place to stay, even if he was in an alpha’s arms right now. He knew she had an alpha out there somewhere, in the end. Even if she… put herself out on the market. She was basically having sex with alpha’s for money. And not even a lot. She was a whore, a low paid whore. And even then she had an alpha whom she loved, probably one of her clients. He smelled him a lot on her, at least. 

That alpha probably hurt her as well, it was always the same scent on her while she walked around with wounds. He shouldn’t be thinking about that, he should be thinking about the times they had. The fun times, not the bad times. He couldn’t help but feel the loss of his mom, the pain that the alpha had done to her when he was younger and unable to protect her. And only he didn’t feel that, he didn’t want to trust any alpha. They could be vicious, they hurt you just because they were ‘higher’ than you were. No way, not with him. He’d fight back even if that was against all the damn rules. But who followed the rules in the apocalypse anyway? 

He felt some more movements behind him and a soft, sleepy groan. He rolled his eyes slowly and put the picture back in his pocket. He didn’t have to know what he was looking at, that was his business, not that of the Alpha’s. He could feel Daryl’s arm tightening just a little bit around his waist, on which he responded with a soft growl, warning him to loose his grip. The Alpha responded with a disapproving growl of himself, but pulled his arm away completely. He raised himself to his feet and stretched a bit, before grabbing his white t-shirt, which was more white than it was thanks to that sweet woman, Carol. 

“ ‘mornin’ to ya too.” Sounded the grumpy gruff of the alpha from the bed. Rick rolled his eyes and looked at the man, who was still laying down on the bed. “Shut up,” He growled to him, straightening his trousers. It was pure punishment of that big Alpha called Shane, to force him to sleep with this man. He fastened his belt and left the room. He walked down the stairs and adjusted his watch on his wrist, even if it didn’t work he kept wearing the damn thing. He couldn’t get it over his chest to remove it; the watch his grandpa had given him before he died all those years ago. 

“Mornin’,” He greeted the group, most of them already started breakfast. Maggie and Glenn were missing, probably on watch. Or… well, ‘on watch’ was the better term for it. Because they didn’t watch a lot, from what he was smelling off them. He sat down next to Carol without asking. It was better than sitting next to Shane or Lori and there was no spot next to Hershel. Daryl had followed him no less than five minutes and mumbled a soft ‘Goodmornin’’ to the group before sitting down next to Lori. Both of them got their share of breakfast, if you could even call it a breakfast with just beans, and a glass of water. 

He could feel the hairs on his back raising, knowing that someone was watching him while eating. And it wasn’t Daryl when he looked up. More like Shane. He glared at the man, almost challenging him. He knew it wasn’t the best thing to do, challenge the pack alpha, but he didn’t like it, being watched so intently by an alpha male. Like he was some lust object. He was just eating for fucks sake. “So, Rick, where did you live before this?” He narrowed his eyes a bit at the question, but he supposed he had to answer it no less. “Here and there.” He calmly said, which wasn’t really a lie. He was used to moving around a lot, so he never really took track of the place where he was right there and then. It didn’t seem to matter either way. 

“How’d you survive all your heats?” Shane asked him, and dear god, he wanted to punch that man so bad. He clenched his jaw, trying to calm down a bit before he’d answer the question. Because he didn’t want to show his canines. “Like Daryl told, three days ago, I was never bred before in my entire life.” He said as calmly as he could, but it was more than obvious that he was annoyed. Why did it matter how he survived? He just did. He did what had to be done. “I just stayed up high in a tree whenever a heat hit me to make sure I wouldn’t be gobbled up by a walker.” He told them lightly and took another bite of his beans. Fucking beans. 

Shane grinned and took another bite himself. He didn’t trust him, at all. He was probably the least person he trusted this moment. He bit back a growl, trying to ignore the entertained eyes the alpha showed him. He was soon done with his food and brought them to a small tub which they used to wash their dishes. He was so done with this, already, he was barely out of his bed and he was already done with looking at their faces. 

He wanted to go outside. Not as in the little place outside where he was allowed to stay outside, no he wanted to go _outside_. Outside all of the gates, get his freedom back from these persons who just decided for him that he had to stay there for a week to show he wasn’t a threat. Like that was hard for a person who really intended to hurt them. It was probably better to just let them do their thing and keep an eye on them then doing… this. How they’d all survived so far was a riddle for him. Well, from what he’d seen, Daryl had hunting skills, with his bow he was silent and he seemed like a good tracker. So they’d get food from him. 

Plus, he was good at killing walkers because if he could shoot a jumpy deer, he would be able to kill a damn slow walker as well. Daryl was a survivor, a lone wolf like he was. They wouldn’t need anybody to survive, only themselves. Carol cooked and did the laundry, things everyone should be able to do, in his opinion. Shane looked like the alpha of the group, but even he knew he would do better than he did right now. He did give him some credit though, they had managed to claim a whole prison for themselves. 

He let out a soft sigh and slowly washed his plate, just so that it was done already. It was his dishes so he wouldn’t bother anyone else with it. Plus it wasn’t like he had something else to do. He was bored out of his mind, every day again. He placed his dishes on the drying board, before going outside. Within the first gate. The inner gate. He at least wanted to go to the damn field within the other gate. He groaned softly, looking at the grass there. He wanted to lie in it, feel the green sprouts against his skin, tickling it. Feel the wind through it, instead of the stupid asphalt like ground underneath it. Or whatever it was supposed to be. 

He was a person for nature, not a person for man-built things. Of course, wooden houses were perfect, but all these expensive things… He just couldn’t see the value of it. He could just go… fuck that alpha. Because he was going to lay in the damn grass and no-one was holding him back. So he looked around him, before he walked to the gate and opened it. Closed it off behind him, of course, you’d never know what would happen in days like these, and walked over to the grass. 

As soon as his boots touched the grass he kneeled down, before almost rolling over into the grass with a smile on his face. His arms touched the grass, the smell of grass was in the air as well. And almost, just almost, you could think away the groaning and hissing of the dead people walking outside of the gates. He could just imagine, you know? Even if it would never happen, the dead people would never leave them alone, even if they would try so hard. They had to accept that this was how they were going to live, how people in the future were going to live; if there were still any people left on the world. 

Maybe the decayed bodies would simply be fully decayed one day, unable to walk anymore, to grab someone and bite their throat out. Maybe, in a future far away. In a future he’d be dead already. He huffed softly, closing his eyes and enjoying the soft sound of the wind. Trying to ignore the groaning and hissing. Back in the perfect world, when everyone was still dead when they died and didn’t come back to life, he’d love to do this. Close to his house, where the city was more than an hour away, where no cars were rushing by. And they could just enjoy the nature around them. 

When he was just laying with his mom in the grass and look at the clouds above them, naming them by the things they looked like. Clouds were elegant things, things he liked to look at. Because you could imagine it to whatever you thought it was. “Y’know ya’re not allowed ‘ere right?” He rolled his eyes and turned his head. Grass tickled his cheek while he turned his head. Daryl looked down at him, crossbow slung over those muscled shoulders. “I know.” He said lightly, because honestly, he didn’t care. And especially not if Daryl was trying to teach him some lesson he didn’t need from him. He was one of the last persons he wanted to learn from. 

Okay maybe he did want to learn just a tiny bit more about hunting from the other man- But nothing more! No way! If he was thinking that, he was wrong. “Then ya should go inside again.” He rolled his eyes, no way. He sighed deeply and placed his arms above his head on the grass while he closed his blue eyes. “I’m just layin’ in the damn grass. Nothin’ harmful.” He said lightly irritated. He didn’t need some damn babysitter, he could do everything just fine. He could kill walkers, protect himself, he didn’t need someone watching him and confining him. He felt like a wild animal in a damn cage. 

“Shane won’t be happy with ya ‘ere.” Like he didn’t know that. _Thank you for telling me, asshole._ He didn’t even more while laying in the grass, enjoying the slightly warm sun and the way the grass was feeling on his skin. If only he could lay here for the rest of his life, that would’ve been much better. “Don’t care, I’m not doin’ anythin’ harmful.” He simply said to the man. He could hear him sigh deeply, before he heard some rustling next to him, which made him look over. Was he actually- jesus. Daryl laid down next to him. 

“I don’t need a babysitter.” He said irritated to the man while he pointed his gaze back to the sky. He already thought he made that clear when he was escaping from all the walkers that had build up in front of the house when they were stuck in there. “I know, Shane thinks different about that though.” He growled softly. Of course he fucking thought that. He looked like one of those traditional alpha’s. The ones who thought that omega’s should be kept safe forever and only the pack alpha was allowed to breed with them and claim them- disgusting. 

“I don’t like him.” He groaned, because it was simply the truth. He hated that man more than he hated Daryl and that was quite a good compliment from him if you’d ask him. Because he already hated Daryl quite a bit. Daryl huffed a soft laugh. “Well, he’s fine. Just a bit of a hothead now ‘nd then.” He rolled with his eyes and placed his hands underneath his head as a little pillow. “He looks at me like some _damn_ lust object.” He softly growled. And maybe he shouldn’t have said that, especially to Daryl, but at least he didn’t look at him like he was some weak deer that couldn’t fend for himself. 

“He looks at ya like what?” Daryl asked him, probably with a frown. He said it right? He was looking at him like a lust object. Was he deaf? “He looks at me like he wants to fuck with me, you ought to check your ears.” He could hear some movements again next to him, which made him turn his head towards the man to see him almost sitting up, staring at him. And he didn’t look to happy. “He has Lori, he’s not gonna do anythin’ to ya.” Yeah, that’s what they always said. _‘He wouldn’t hurt your mom.’_ was what he had said to him. He clenched his jaw and turned away his head again. Broken promises, promises that couldn’t be trusted because they were wrong. Promises they wouldn’t believe in. And when they did something they would blame the omega, like always. 

“If you say so.” He mumbled, but he knew what those looks meant. The looks his mom received, the looks he received when he was presented as an omega. And not every person could identify those looks, but he was pretty damn sure what kind of look that was. And he wasn’t happy with it. It was threatening him every day. But he would just punch the damn alpha in the gut if he tried anything. He would trash him completely. If he could believe in it he wouldn’t care if it would happen, because this was the pack alpha. And he was always _right_. 

“Is the person who gave you the scars dead?” He asked the man without even thinking about it. They never talked about it, the fact that he had seen the pretty big amount of scars on the back of the alpha. He turned his head to the man, looking at his reaction. He seemed all tensed up and that was probably because his question would bring back bad memories. It always happened to him when someone reminded him about his mom. Daryl was really good with that, reminding him of his mom. 

“’m sorry, what?” Was the first thing that had left Daryl’s mouth after his question, turning his head towards him. He really was becoming deaf, that damn old man. “You heard me old man, I asked if the person who gave you those scars is dead.” He asked again, even though he knew that the man had heard him correctly, if he wanted to play this game than he would play it. He would just ask him again. “ ‘m not old.” Daryl told him as a matter of fact. Well he was, at least older than he was. He was pretty sure he was one of the youngest here, apart from Beth and maybe Maggie and Glenn. 

“But.. yeah… he’s dead.” The answer finally came, which made him nod slowly. “Did people believe you?” He asked calmly to the man, his eyes focussed on the man’s stormy blue eyes. Daryl looked frozen and he knew what he was asking him to do, to tell him, but he had to see it from his point of view. “Did those people think that person was hurtin’ you or were they tellin’ you that he wasn’t goin’ to hurt anybody?” He clenched his jaw and looked up to the sky, because life was that cruel. It was always in the alphas right, because the omegas were provoking them into sexual contact. “Nah, they knew what he ‘s doin’ but they did nothin’ to stop it.” 

Oh. Shit. That made him the assuming bitch that just assumed that they didn’t know and said he was a nice guy. “I’m sorry.” He said with a soft sigh. Those were the worst kind of situations, because he and his mom were in those situations. He still felt like he was in that situation. No, he didn’t feel like it, he damn was in that situation right now with the whole Shane ordeal. “Ya need to stop to act so high ‘nd mighty. ‘Cus ya ain’t. Ya ‘re only wrappin’ yaself up with problems.” And with those words Daryl got up already and stared down at him. He was clearly not happy with the way he had acted, but _what the actual fuck?_ He was acting high and mighty?! 

He rose himself up to his feet and almost glared at the man. “ _I’m_ not actin’ high and fuckin’ mighty. I’m standin’ up for myself, that’s a whole damn progression from whatever the hell you are doin’” He snarled to the man without any self-control. He wasn’t just going to stand there and take his damn insults just because he wanted him to know how he was feeling about the situation with Shane. “ ‘m just damn survivin’, ya should try it.” Daryl snarled back to him. The air around them had turned sour with irritation and anger, but hell, he wasn’t going to fucking back off just because this sourness almost made him nauseous. His instincts screamed to calm the alpha and back off, but he wasn’t. He was stronger than his damn instincts and he was going to show it. 

“Been doin’ that for a while on my own, thank you very much. At least I’m not gettin’ completely knackered because I’m the one doing all the damn hunts and protectin’ fuckin’ everyone to be treated like I’m not even there!” He said while he shoved the alpha. He just fucking shoved an angry alpha and didn’t even care enough about it. The alpha let out a low growl that made his skin crawl, but his eyes screamed determination while he stared right into the alpha’s eyes. “At least I won’t be thrown out like ya ‘re!” and he got shoved back. He stumbled back a bit and took a deep breath, before he cocked his head slightly. “You did _not_ just shove me.” He said with a soft growl in his voice. Daryl huffed an obvious sarcastic laugh and looked at him. “Oh, I think I just _did_ yer highness.” 

Oh he did not just say that. He clenched his jaw, staring directly into his eyes. And out of nowhere he just swung his arm and hit the alpha right in his face. “Fuck you,” He growled loudly to the alpha, his hands completely balled into fists. “And here I thought you were fuckin’ different from the other alpha’s, turns out your just like ‘em.” He growled, before narrowing his eyes in a warning. And here he thought he was finally getting used to him, no way. “Here, you get your fuckin’ way. I’ll go the fuck inside.” He said with a sarcastic voice, even though he really was going inside. “Go tell Shane you fuckin’ wuss. I don’t care if I’m goin’ to be thrown out. I’d rather die than gettin’ through another damn heat with you.” He spat to the alpha, before turning around and stomping to the inner gates. 

Fuck him. Fuck this group. Fuck everything. He didn’t even dare to look back or wait for a reaction from the older alpha. Fucking know it all. He didn’t even look around him, the people would scent his emotion anyway. He didn’t need any body language for them to know he was pissed off. Because he was, he was damn pissed off by that imposter of an alpha. He was a wuss, someone far in the back. A person who didn’t speak up for himself even though he’d be the best damn leader from all these people. 

He walked immediately to the room he and Daryl had been sleeping. Oh yeah that was going to be fun tonight. He was going to sleep on the damn floor downstairs, he wasn’t going to stay here, hell no. He’d been sleeping in worse positions and places anyway. A tree was way less comfortable than the floor, that’s one thing he was certain of. He sat down on the mattress and placed his hands in his hair. Fucking piece of shit. He let out a low growl and tried to calm down. _Calm the fuck down Grimes_. 

And when he did calm down, he felt his body trembling, shaking now that the adrenaline was completely gone from his body. He let out a soft whine, while he went with his hand through his hair. He felt nauseous, panicky, straight up horrible basically. His body couldn’t handle the fact anymore that he was denying his other side, that he pushed away his omega inside of him. It hurt. It hurt. So he did the only thing that reached his mind that could calm him down. He went outside the box, his eyes looking for the elder man who communicated with him like he was a normal human being. 

As soon as his eyes found the man he let out a soft whine and rushed down to him. He didn’t really know what he wanted to do, but he needed reassurance. He wanted this panicky feeling gone, he wanted to feel calm and relaxed again. Not worrying about Daryl. Or Shane. Or other people from this pack. As soon as he reached Hershel, he almost knew what to do. Hershel ran with his hand through his hair and pulled him against his shoulder. He hated this. He hated everything. But at least he’d be able to calm down. 

He cooled off in a couple of hours later. Daryl had walked in in the mean time and looked quite concerned at him, even though they had a blasting fight with each other not a few hours ago. Hershel didn’t ask him anything, which he liked, actually. Because he didn’t want to talk about it. He didn’t want to talk about Daryl. Shane had given him and Hershel a weird look, but didn’t ask anything about it. Daryl didn’t seem to have gone to Shane, which was a good thing if he was honest. Even if he did say some bad things about this place, he’d rather not leave. Because what he said in the heat of the moment, about dying, wasn’t true. He didn’t want to die, just like every person here. That’s what had gotten him so far, the fact that he wanted to live and wanted to fight for it. Just like his mom asked him to do. Whatever it takes. 

He probably had to get ready for leaving anyway. There had been a clear red place on Daryl’s face and the scents would tell them everything they needed to know. And he’d have to leave this place, go back into the wild where he had to run and hide for everything. And now with the adding threat due to his coming heats; there would be a big damn problem and he knew that. 

He wasn’t hungry. Instead he had gone outside while people were having their dinner. He still remembered some places where he had buried some cans he could pick up as soon as he was thrown out. He could just grab everything what was his and leave like nothing had happened. It started to cool off outside, the groaning from the outer gates still hearable. He sighed softly, before lowering himself on one of the benches the people here had placed outside. His head touched the seat and he closed his eyes. He’d sleep here, because he didn’t want to see anyone else. He didn’t want to see what they had decided as a group. 

And even though his stress was at a high level, he still managed to fall asleep outside.   
______________   
_It was white. All white. He looked around him, but there was just… nothing there. He looked down at his own clothes, why was he fully dressed white? Did they kill him in his sleep? Was that what they had decided to do with him? A soft whine left his mouth, closing his eyes. Of course they did. Was this how it was when you died? This was the end? Just whiteness and nothing?_

_Footsteps were attracting his attention. And he saw someone he never thought he’d ever see again. “Mom…” He whined softly, before he tried to rush towards her. But even if he tried to run to her, she seemed to be at the same distance as just a minute ago. Why couldn’t he run towards her? He wanted to be in her arms, holding him close like a young pup._

_“Just take a look at the houses around you, they would have never been built without stone. And if a bird has no wings, it never flies anywhere. Even though you still get so many chances, there will always be one of them which will go wrong. And since you can hear my song, you also know what silence is.”_

_He knew this song, she had sang this so many times to him. Why did she sing it right now? He was dead, there was nothing left for him. They could be together right now, but he couldn’t get any closer. And even though he wanted to scream, wanted to scream to her that she had to stay right there and he’d come there, but he couldn’t do it. He couldn’t seem to talk anymore over the sweet song his mom was singing for him._

_“Because one thing can't exist without the other, just take my hand. Don't ask too many questions. You can't bear the world by yourself, just take my hand now, let me lead the way, it's all right if you want to prove yourself again and again, but you can't do it alone.”_

_That wasn’t true. He could do it on his own. It was him against the world. No-one could tell him what to do, he was fine like this. He didn’t need this. He was fine by himself. He had always been fine on his own._

_“If you've lost another game and you don't feel very well, then you should know that you have to sow very carefully, if you want the harvest to be better. But you think you don't need help, because you know it so well. Still, you need the people around you, to tell you how you have to do it.”_

_Tears were already flooding over his cheeks, he didn’t need them. What even worse was the fact that Hershel, Glenn, Lori, Beth.. almost everyone was coming into view. He didn’t need them! He was strong on his own, he knew that. He always had known that. That was the main point of everything. Because that’s what she had said. Whatever it takes, he had to keep on surviving. It was because of those words that he survived!_

_“Because one thing can't exist without the other, just take my hand. Don't ask too many questions. You can't bear the world by yourself, just take my hand now, let me lead the way, it's all right if you want to prove yourself again and again, but you can't do it alone.”_

_And that was the point Daryl, the last person of it all, came into view. Why him? Out of all people that had come into view. The person up until now were good people, so why him? He hated him, despised him. They fought all the time, throwing mean comments to each other._

_“I'm giving you my hand, so take this chance, because I'm giving you my help, to you. I hope you trust my hands.”_

_And finally he was close to his mom, grabbing her hand. Because maybe, just maybe, he didn’t want to be alone. Didn’t want to spend his night alone in a tree, or alone outside. Maybe he did want someone next to him. He wanted his mom, he needed his mom. She touched his cheek with one of her warm hands, which made him close his eyes, enjoying her soft touch. He softly pressed his cheek into the hand, tears just overflooding his whole face. He’d probably look bad and snotty, but his mom was here._

_“Just take my hand. Don't ask too many questions. You can't bear the world by yourself, just take my hand now, let me lead the way, it's all right if you want to prove yourself again and again, but you can't do it alone.”_

______________   
The fact he actually woke up with a hand pressed against his cheek was shocking. He immediately sat up and looked with big, confused eyes around him. His vision still a bit blurry, before recognizing the features of Daryl right in front of him. “Ya ‘kay?” the words still sounding far away from him, because he was still so sleepy. 

He hadn’t died. He was still in this damn world. And Daryl was in front of him. “Ya were cryin’, sweatin’… I wanted to wake ya up but ya wouldn’t.” He didn’t want to wake up from that dream. He wanted to stay asleep. He wanted to stay with his mom. But maybe she had a point, he couldn’t do it alone. He needed _someone_ , what if he was ill? He wouldn’t be able to do anything at that point, had no-one who’d take care of him. 

“I’m sorry..” He croaked softly, while he used his hands to bury his face. “’s nothin’ to be sorry for.” Daryl told him calmly. Why was Daryl outside anyway? He had given him the whole bunk for himself instead of laying next to him. Shouldn’t he be asleep instead of sitting here outside next to the bench he was on? He took a deep breath, still burying his head into his hands. “Not for that… I shouldn’t have said those things.. Shouldn’t have hit you. I’m sorry. I really am.” He said with a trembling voice. He didn’t want to show weakness, but of course he had to be there as soon as he had woken up from a sensitive dream. 

“’s ‘kay, Rick. ‘m not mad at ya. We both said some mean things.” Daryl calmly told him, before he felt Daryl’s hand softly squeezing his shoulder. He slowly looked up to him and slowly nodded, before he saw a red rag in front of him. “’ere, wipe yer face. Ya look disgustin’.” He could here the slight tease in there, which made him actually huff a soft laugh. “That’s more like how you look every day.” He softly said back, but accepted the red rag to wipe the snot and tears from his face. 

He sighed softly, looking up at the stars. Even though this might’ve been some weird thing that his mind had made up, he’d rather believe that it was something his mom send him to get him on his way. That he had to try it here and try to make sure that he would stay here and make a part of this community. 

“Sorry I made your rag all disgustin’.” He said with a soft laugh, handing it back to him. Daryl shrugged and looked to him. “Carol can wash it, ‘s not a problem.” He nodded slowly and looked at his hands, fumbling with them. “Can we go back inside again?” He asked, trying not to sound too eager. He was still an omega, he’d rather have some warmth than staying in the cool air outside. If he had a choice, he’d rather be inside. Daryl smiled softly and nodded. 

“Always.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oof, after so long I finally managed to continue this one! :D It took a long time to write, I'm sorry for that uwu.   
> But, I hope I can compensate that with some smut between our boys!! :D (Say what??) 
> 
> TW: some non-con/dub-con elements between Shane and Rick this chapter! 
> 
> I hope I'll be able to continue the story soon again! <3 Thanks for waiting and reading this story!! <3

And just like that the first week flew by. It was insane how quick (or well it felt pretty slow at the same time) the time flew by. Finally, _finally_ he didn’t have to stay in the bed Daryl slept in. He would get his own bed and dear lord he was ready for that. He could finally have some privacy time and finally be allowed to go outside the gates like he wanted. Could come with them on runs, hunt some for the group, show them that he was completely fine in the group. Show them his worth. His first plan about leaving soon had vanished, because he had bonded with Hershel and Beth. Those two kept him here. 

So he was eagerly waiting until Shane would arrive, which was a first to be honest, because he wanted to hear the words that he would get his own bed in his own cell. Ten minutes ago the whole group went outside to talk about him, to figure out what to do with him. Making the final decision about what was going to happen. It wasn’t long before people started to come back. Hershel smiled at him, which could only mean good things right? 

Shane was the last person to enter the prison building and his blue eyes immediately found the brown eyes of the pack alpha. “Rick, we talked about what we’re going to do.” Shane started to speak slowly, calmly. He nodded slowly in response, so the alpha knew he was listening even though he really, really hated Shane. But right now he had to tell him their decision. “You’re welcome to stay here, with us, if you’re going to help us secure the place and fight with us, not against us.” That sounded logical or was Shane just dumb? 

“Yeah, of course, yeah.” He said calmly to the alpha and smiled towards Hershel, who nodded approvingly to him. Shane walked up to him, placing a hand on his shoulder and softly squeezing it, looking right into his blue eyes. “We’re very glad to have you, Rick.” And right at that moment he wanted to pull of Shane’s hand and stomp him in the gut, just because he didn’t like it. Because his eyes were so _amused_ and he didn’t know why. He didn’t know what he was planning in that alpha mind of his. Especially because he looked at him before with lust in his eyes and well let’s say he wasn’t up for that. Especially not with him.

“I’m glad to be here.” He decided to say back to the man, with a soft smile on his face. He just couldn’t smile broadly with this man right in front of him. He just couldn’t. Even if he wanted to. This alpha just.. He knew what it was, those kind of alphas were the alpha’s his mom used to hang out with. Older than her, just needed some fuck and let her die in a ditch somewhere because they used her. No way, that was not going to happen to him even if the alpha wanted it so bad. 

“So where will I sleep?” Was the next question that rolled out of his mouth, because the plan was as soon as they had accepted him, he would move to his own bed, his own place. He wanted that, he needed that. He just wanted his own place with no alpha whatsoever involved. Beth smiled and walked up to him, taking his hand. “Come, this way!” She said with enthusiasm in her voice. He smiled warmly at her, Shane letting go of his shoulder, and let Beth lead him to his new room. A new room to stay in, to make something that was his. His _nest_. 

God, it had been so long ago since he had his own nest, all those months back in the house he shared with his mom. He could put some things in there he found outside, or could carve some things out of wood if he had the time. He could make something for himself again. And dear lord how much he wanted that. They went up the stairs and it was immediately that one. The one in front of the stairs was going to be his sleeping place. “It’s next to mine!” She said with a smile on her face. Of course, he was one of the closest to her age, together with her sister and her boyfriend. It must be nice to have someone of your own age that doesn’t have anything to do with family bonds to be your friend. 

So he smiled and nodded. “Nice.” He said with a soft smile to the blonde girl, who smiled so happily at him. She was like the angel in the apocalypse, he heard someone say that. Maybe Carol? She was innocent and just lovely to be around. He also heard from Hershel that she has a great voice and that they would sing together sometime or she would start to sing and everyone would just listen to her with a smile on their face. She was a reminder of the old world as it was. 

So the first thing he did after Beth showed him his cell, was getting his things from Daryl’s room. Because he had his own room and in that room belonged his own things. So he walked up to the room where prison guards used to be, where Daryl was sleeping, and opened the door, only to see Daryl standing there. “Finally, this day has come.” He said with a sigh to the man, who frowned at him. “What the hell ‘re ya talkin’ about?” Daryl asked with a frown on his face. 

“The day I moved out from your room. No more cuddles, no more sleepin’ so tight, just me in my own cell.” He said with a smile. Daryl rolled his eyes and grabbed his bag that was laying on the floor, to reach it out to him. He took the bag from Daryl’s hand with a smile, there we go. That was all of his things. He wasn’t going to unpack until he had decided to stay and until he had his own room to stay in. So, today was the day. “Yeah, whatever.” Daryl said with a roll of his eyes. No gruffy Daryl anymore, no harsh words first thing in the morning. 

It was better like this, fine. It was like he finally had time to breathe, to get away from everything. To get away from alpha’s. To have his own nest, with his own things smelling like him. To not wake up completely surrounded by the scent of an alpha. He walked away with every last bit of his things, leaving their conversation like that. It wasn’t like they had to talk about things anymore from now on. With a big smile on his face he went to his own cell, where he immediately started to place things in the correct place. 

He still kept a couple of his things in his bag, just to be sure that he was able to grab it and go if he had to. He sighed happily and closed his eyes. Finally, some god damn rest. And, the best part was that he was allowed to go outside now. No more feeling like a caged animal, he was free once again. So as soon as he had arranged his cell, he decided to take a look outside. 

Walkers were latched onto the fences, trying to get them down to reach them. How the hell did they even leave this place? He frowned and sat down in the grass, enjoying the long strands underneath his fingers. Yeah, he could definitely get used to this, no questions asked.

~

He never expected to be in this position. Shane wanted to go on a run with him. And sure, he had found that mildly suspicious at first, he had agreed to it. They needed supplies and he wasn’t in the mood to argue about not going with Shane, the only thing it would do was raise suspicion within the group. Even though Daryl had known about his… concerns, no-one else seemed to know about that. 

With his knife in his hand he walked through the forest he knew so well. He knew for sure that there were no supplies here, but Shane insisted on coming here. “We’re near.” Shane told him calmly, to which he frowned. He knew this area. Wasn’t this..? Dear god, they were moving towards the cabin he had spend his days with Daryl, weren’t they? “There are no supplies there, Shane.” He scoffed, wanting to turn around and just run back to the prison. Nothing good was going to happen there, he could feel it. 

“It’s fine, Rick. There are supplies there.” He wanted to fight this so badly, he really did. “We’re wastin’ our time going there! I’ve already been in that house and there’s nothin’ there!” he hissed towards the leader of the group, who looked at him, obviously irritated. Well he could look irritated at him all he wanted to, as long as he didn’t have to do anything with him. He knew this was going to end badly for him. Shane shoved him right up against a tree, holding him firmly against it. 

He let out a soft hiss when his back was pressed against the hard wood. He glared at Shane, who was standing uncomfortably close to him right now. Way too far into his comfort zone. “Feisty one, aren’t you?” Shane said with a grin on his face to him. He took a deep breath through his nose, looking at Shane. And dear lord, if looks could kill, Shane would have died over an hundred times already. “I like them that way.” Gross. So gross. So wrong. 

And that’s when the lips of Shane connected with his. And it felt wrong, disgusting. So he did the only thing he could do in this position. He swung his leg as far back as he could, before landing his knee right in the sensitive place of the alpha. The alpha immediately backed off, tumbling over while shielding his sacred place. “Fuck off.” He growled to the alpha, his teeth showing. “You don’t get to touch me.” He growled dangerously. If killing him had been a good possibility, he would have, but he was the leader and he wasn’t exactly.. completely trusted in the group yet. 

“Jesus. That hurts.” Shane wheezed, before trying to stand up straight again. “But I can’t have you do that, Rick.” Shane said with a grin on his face. He just glared at the man. If he wanted to do it again, he wouldn’t mind using his knife. “We don’t want you kicked out of the group because you wanted to kill me, do you?” He set his jaw and took a deep breath. 

“I was on my own before. I can handle myself.” He hissed to the taller man. No way he could win a fight with him on pure strength. Shane was all muscles.. he was just scrawny in comparison with him. But as long as he had his knife.. he would be fine. Shane snorted to his answer. “And do what? Get into heat and die?” Fuck. He knew how true that was. It couldn’t be more true than this. He would die on his own now. No matter how you would look at it. “That’s what I thought.” Shane purred, apparently seeing how his face changed at the realisation. 

“So just be calm, I won’t hurt you. I’ll take really good care of you.” He clenched his jaw and looked to the ground underneath them, trying to keep his breathing even. He couldn’t believe he just got fucking blackmailed. He didn’t have a fucking choice, the end of the world didn’t change anything for their secondary gender. Shane cupped his jaw, urging him to look up to him. He met Shane’s brown eyes, who were gleaming. Eyes that screamed victory. “There we go, that’s better.” Shane whispered, before he found his lips again. 

He hated this. He hated this. He hated this. This felt so bad. So wrong. But even if this was so wrong, he still allowed Shane to ravish his mouth against the tree. Shane’s hands were gripping onto his hips, pushing them against his own. He could hear and feel Shane rumbling, but none of it felt soothing. It was far from soothing to feel the alpha’s arousal against his hip. The most twisted of it all was that his omega body did respond to the alpha by producing slick.

It was when he heard a twig break that he pushed Shane away. “Walkers.” He said shortly. “Gotta move.” He continued as he straightened his shirt. He started to walk away from the tree, looking around for any sign of the walker he had heard before. Maybe it had been his mind tricking him, but he would thank his brain for that. He wiped his mouth, removing any remaining saliva. Disgusting. Shane was a pig. A good for nothing pig. He bit down on his swollen bottom lip to give himself a distraction from the slick coating his skin. His body was a damn traitor.

~

He and Shane did find some supplies, but the alpha took every moment they had to touch him, stating his claim over him. He very much knew that as soon as they came back to the prison he wouldn’t touch him at all, because he had Lori there. That son of a bitch. As soon as they walked through the gates, his mind almost went on the automatic pilot, going inside. To the only place where he felt safe. He laid down on the soft mattress and closed his eyes, only to let go of a soft sob. He hated his life. He hated Shane. He hated Daryl, who started this whole mess. Fuck this. Fuck everything. He should’ve died a long time ago. He pulled the covers over him, burying his head into the pillow. The scent was so nice. He took a deep breath and found himself relaxing a bit more. 

He didn’t even knew he had fallen asleep until someone was shaking him. His mind directly connected to Shane and he shot up, pushing the arms away with slightly bigger eyes. “Hey, Rick, calm down. ‘s just me.” He took a shaky breath, it was just Daryl. Just Daryl. He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Can I help you?” He decided to ask Daryl. Calm down, he just had to calm down. Shane wouldn’t do anything in the prison. “Well.. uhm… Ya’re kinda sleepin’ on my bed.” Daryl told him calmly, to which Rick slowly looked around. Jesus, did he really walk to Daryl’s bed? 

“Oh.. I’m sorry. I’ll.. I’ll go.” He softly said, not even going to put up a fight or anything like that. He already had a shitty day, he didn’t need a fight now. He just wanted to curl up into a ball and sleep this away. But as soon as he wanted to rise to his feet, Daryl grabbed his arm. “Hey.. Wha’s wrong?” And he sounded genuinely concerned. He took a deep breath and shook his head. “Just a nightmare, that’s all.” He said softly, looking at the floor. “Can I just go now?” He asked, looking up to Daryl. The alpha seemed to think about it for a bit, contemplating it, before letting go. “Goodnight.” Daryl said as he laid down on his bed, his back turned towards him.

~

He was very, very lucky that Shane hadn’t done anything else yet… beside kissing him and grinding against him. Whenever Shane had the chance he would fucking take it. And his words didn’t help as well. He’d said it multiple times to him already: ‘Next heat you’ll be mine and mine only.’ And the thought of being mated to this man made him sick to his very core. Of course he wouldn’t be able to fight it during his heat, the whole point of it was to breed and mate with an alpha. Didn’t mean that outside of his heat he would feel the same. 

He couldn’t believe he already let this happen to him for weeks. And that in a couple of weeks he would have no other choice than to be mated to that asshat. And not only that, Shane expected pups. He wanted him to carry his fucking pups. No way. He didn’t want that. It wasn’t unusual for alphas to have multiple mates, because they fucking _could_. But as soon as the omega was mated to someone, it was for life. Just that one person. No one else. If they tried they would become sick, oh so sick. Omega’s left behind would die. 

His body has been craving things, all due to Shane’s teases. Almost to the point that he couldn’t handle it anymore. _That was the goddamn point._ He reminded himself. Shane would always grin at him, knowingly, he was trying to make him beg for it. No way, he wouldn’t. Even if they would be the last persons on earth, he wouldn’t beg Shane to fuck him while not being in heat. But fuck, this was really getting annoying. He huffed irritated and stood up to walk around. He was _aching_ for something. For something more than his fingers. Because fuck, he tried it with his fingers. He was fucking embarrassed for even trying that, but it seemed better than feeling like this. 

Little had he known that it would only make it worse. 

Maybe he should just go on a supply run for a god damn dildo. Use that to satisfy himself. He didn’t care, he just felt so fucking _empty_. He cursed softly, no way he would be able to go on a supply run like this, he would be way too distracted to even notice walkers getting closer to him. He just wanted to fucking bend over and let him get mounted. It was all he could fucking think about. And that was weird, coming from him. Stupid fucking alpha’s. 

He pinched the bridge of his nose, taking a couple of deep breaths, before making a decision. He couldn’t continue this. He knew he couldn’t. It would only become worse and worse and before he knew it he wouldn’t have any control over it. And if that were the case.. Shane would win. And the last thing he wanted was Shane to fucking win. He might won the battle of ravishing him whenever he wanted, but he wasn’t going to give him this. 

So he rushed around the prison, trying to find the person he was looking for. And he couldn’t believe what he was about to do, but fuck it. Everything and everyone was better than Shane. Daryl came into view, his back turned towards him. He wasn’t going to sugar coat anything. “Rick? Wha the hell?” Daryl asked him, but he didn’t even answer. When they were in front of his cell Daryl finally stopped and put his heels at the floor. “Ya gonna tell me wha’s this ‘bout?” Daryl almost growled. 

He took a deep breath and looked straight at him. “I want you to fuck me.” He said shortly to the man, who immediately looked confused. “No questions asked. Strip. I fucking _need_ you inside me.” He almost growled, stepping into his own cell and starting to discard some clothing. Daryl seemed to hesitate for a bit, before stepping inside, closing the curtain and starting to strip himself. He softly smiled and pushed Daryl onto his bed, earning a soft growl from the alpha when he straddled his hips with his own. 

“Just like this.” He purred to the alpha, before capturing his mouth. The alpha rumbled when he was allowed to ravish his mouth, lick every inch of his mouth to claim it as if it was his own. He could feel slick starting to coat his backside, great. It all went to plan. He gasped softly when Daryl’s firm hand grabbed his hip, disconnecting their lips from each other. 

“Jesus, Rick, I can’t believe this..” Daryl rumbled, leaning up to kiss his exposed neck. The only thing he could do was whimper softly, showing his neck a bit more to the alpha. Exposed, vulnerable to the alpha. “Daryl-“ he softly whimpered, letting his hands roam over the broad chest of the alpha. Fuck, he didn’t want to wait any longer, but he also knew he needed to be stretched out for Daryl to be able to push inside without hurting him. 

And it seemed like Daryl had the same idea. With his lips attached to his neck, peppering it with kisses and teasing bites, he could feel Daryl’s hand sliding slowly closer to his puckered, slick hole. For a moment he could feel himself panicking, closing his eyes tightly and trembling softly. “ssh.. ‘s just me.. Le’me in, Rick.” And that was apparently all it took for his body to relax under Daryl’s touches, just a soft ‘it’s me’. It didn’t sound commanding, it was more… a question. Even if the words itself sounded more like a command, the underlaying tone told him that Daryl wouldn’t do anything he didn’t want. 

He took a deep breath and leaned down to nuzzle Daryl’s cheek, before pressing his hips more against Daryl’s hand. The alpha let out a soft, soothing, but also possessive rumble, before pressing a finger inside of him. He gasped loudly, unfamiliar with this feeling of something inside of him that wasn’t from himself. Well, that was not completely true, while he was in heat he did have Daryl’s cock inside of him, knot and all, but that wasn’t the same. In those moments he had been in heat, not completely conscious. Not like now at least. 

He panted softly as Daryl moved pumped his finger in and out of his hole, stretching him out. “Mhm- Daryl. God _damn_.” He moaned softly when Daryl slipped in a second finger. Daryl smirked underneath him and started to work on his collarbone, leaving soft bites on there and red spots of where his lips used to be. And then he touched something that made his body tremble and made him let out a surprised moan. “Right there.” Daryl mumbled against his flesh. “Feels good right?” He could only nod as an answer, letting out a soft whimper. It felt good, yes, but fuck. _This wasn’t enough damn it._

“It’s fine like this.” He mumbled, before straightening his body while Daryl slipped out his fingers. He placed both of his legs on the other sides of Daryl’s hips, before lifting himself a bit. He could see Daryl’s nostrils flaring, taking in as much of his scent as he possibly could. He grabbed Daryl’s hard cock with his hand, keeping it up right. He aligned himself with the hot flesh, as if it was something he had done so many times, holding it right against his slick hole. 

And then he slowly let himself slide down on it. He bit his lip to stifle the moan that wanted to come out of him, while he slowly took inch by inch more into him. Dear god, how did it even fit all the way in? He already felt so god damn full, it was a miracle nothing fucking exploded already inside of him. When he touched Daryl’s skin with the soft skin on his ass, he knew he had fully taken Daryl in. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, experimentally squeezing it every now and then. Fuck, this felt fucking amazing. He was so fucking _full_. 

He started to move up and down as soon as he felt ready for it, loving the feeling how Daryl’s cock filled him just _right_ , how he touched all the places that felt so fucking amazing. Daryl’s fingers dug into the soft, sensitive skin on his hips, definitely wanting to leave marks there. He grinned down at the alpha, loving the way how he just had all the control he wanted to have over the alpha. But still, this wasn’t completely what he needed. Something was fucking missing. He let the alpha’s cock slide out of him, hearing Daryl groan over it. 

He panted loudly, stroking Daryl’s muscled chest, before licking his lips. “Mount me, _Alpha_.” He softly muttered against Daryl’s bare skin, earning a low growl from the alpha and a red flicker of his eyes. “On yer knees.” Daryl told him, voice laced with alpha. He didn’t know how fast he had to go off Daryl to place himself next to him, hands and knees, just like he wanted to. He licked his lips and he could feel his eyes burning. He knew what that meant. Gold. Submissive, showing his true nature to the alpha. 

He could hear the sharp intake of air from next to him, before he felt the rough, calloused hands on his body like they were meant to be there. Daryl slowly pushed his shoulders down, easing him into a better position. Daryl’s face was so close to his spine, hot breaths ghosting over his sweaty body. “Jesus fuck, Rick.” Daryl muttered against his skin, licking a large stripe over his spine. He shivered at the sensation of Daryl’s hot tongue licking so far up. He let out a soft complaining whine, to which Daryl responded with a correcting nip. 

Daryl’s hands were exploring his body, stopping at his hips, only to continue to another place. “Daryl, please.” He whimpered softly, lifting his hips higher in the air. Daryl hummed softly and placed himself over him. Like this big blanket, covering him. If this were in the wild it would be more about protecting their price to predators, but right now it was about dominating. 

Daryl nuzzled his nape gently, which made him hiss softly, a fair warning for the alpha to back the fuck off. Daryl did move away from his nape, not too keen about the possibility of losing this opportunity to fuck him. One of Daryl’s hands left his body, only to feel Daryl’s cock to be aligned with his begging hole. “Fuck, get in.” he hissed, voice laced with _need_ and _lust_. 

Daryl rumbled softly, before pressing inside of him, making his eyes flutter in the process. Daryl’s hands settled on his hips, digging his fingers so hard into his flesh that he was fucking sure that Daryl made markings. But fuck, he couldn’t care less, Daryl was inside of him. Daryl was inside of him and felt so _good_. 

And then Daryl started to thrust in and out of him. And- oh fuck. He was hitting all the right spots, including a spot that made him see fucking stars. “Fuck- Daryl- yes fuck!” He moaned, not even caring who would hear him. He knew he should’ve cared about that shit, but he found himself not caring at all. Daryl was pounding into him like his life depended on it, almost like he was trying to carve a spot for himself, to get buried deep inside of him. Daryl clung to his body like a lifeline, holding on so tight while he thrusted in and out of him. It was so _primal_ , so dirty and so good, that he just forgot everything that worried him, only focussing on the pounding inside of him and find the best position for the alpha to fuck into him. 

He threw his head back and let go of a loud moan, the back of his neck meeting Daryl’s face. Daryl nuzzled the back of his neck gently, cautiously licking it softly. He whimpered softly at that, finding that he wanted Daryl to leave markings there, to show any other interested alpha that he was _off-limits_. “Daryl- I’m gonna come- fuck- knot me. Want your knot.” He moaned while letting his head drop and show his neck in submission to the alpha. 

Daryl growled loudly at his words and he thought that Daryl wasn’t able to thrust harder- well, he was wrong. His prostate was brutally hit time after time by Daryl’s cock and he couldn’t fucking help it. He moaned a “Daryl!” into his arm as he started to come onto his sheets. Fuck who even cared about his sheets? He’d wash them soon enough anyway. He heard a soft groan as Daryl started to move slower and started to tremble above him. His body knew what was coming and he started to get as lax as he could, opening up for the alpha’s knot to settle into his body. 

He could feel it beginning to form and with one last push Daryl started to tremble a bit more and let his knot get stuck inside of him. Daryl’s body covered him like a big, hot blanket and as soon as he felt Daryl coming inside of him he let out a soft, content sigh. His insides began to milk the locked cock inside of him and were he in heat, made sure that it would get the very last drop in order to get pregnant. 

But this wasn’t for a pregnancy, this was to forget. This was for pleasure. Daryl wrapped his arms around him, gently nudging him onto his side without any pains. They were connected for a while now, so they had to make the best of it. Daryl gently nuzzled the side of his neck with his nose and he could clearly feel the vibrations of Daryl’s purring against his neck. A content alpha. He pushed his back more against Daryl’s chest, turning his head a bit to nuzzle Daryl’s cheek softly and let his omega take over for a bit. 

Daryl let out a pleased rumble at the gesture and smiled gently at him, before settling down behind him and let his hands wander over his chest. Well, he had said and thought about Daryl a lot- but he didn’t expect this. He never expected to have sex with him outside of his heat, but hey, at least he knew now that Daryl was fucking good at it. Well, not that he had something to compare it with, but it didn’t feel gross, it felt good.

~

Fucking with Daryl had definitely helped him with not feeling needy anymore. That was one thing that was clear in his mind. And it definitely helped with another problem. Because he found a way to ensure Shane wouldn’t fuck him through his heat. So when most of the people were at dinner he raised to his feet. “I wanted to discuss somethin’” He said calmly to the group, no sign of any nervousness in either his voice or posture. 

“Soon I’ll have another heat and before people are goin’ to fight over it, I decided to pick the person who get the fuck me through it.” Just straight to the kill. There was no use to dance around it, it was just how it was. Nothing else. Shane looked quite amused, of course, because he was oh so sure that he was going to get picked for it. Hell no, Shane _forced_ himself on him. And the only way to make sure that everyone understood, he had to do it like this. 

“Daryl,” He said calmly, meeting the stormy blue eyes. “If you want to, of course.” He didn’t want to force it onto him.. but he freaking hoped he wasn’t going to say no. Glenn wasn’t an alpha and would never be able to satisfy his needs, plus he had a relationship with Maggie, Hershel was too old and was more like a dad to him… and Shane was an absolute no go. And well, Daryl had already fucked him outside of his heat as well, so it only seemed like a logical choice now as well. 

Daryl looked at him with some kind of disbelief, before he nodded. “Sure, wha’ever ya need.” Daryl said calmly to him, to which he nodded. Business like. This wasn’t for love, or mates, this was for survival. So business was nothing new. “I believe my heat will come within a week or two, maybe a bit longer, so my proposal is to sleep at your place from a week and a half until my heat is over.” Loud and clear. Shane would stay the fuck away from him. 

Though, he didn’t even dare to look at Shane’s face right now, because he was probably pissed off as hell. And he knew that he could provoke something with this, but the rest of the pack would know that he chose somebody. Who was the leader to overstep those boundaries? He shouldn’t. He nodded, calmly, before looking at the pack. “That was all I wanted to say. I wanted to be clear to _everyone_.” Especially to asshat Shane. Because now everyone knew to keep Shane away from it. Two alphas and an omega in heat could lead to fights between alphas; to death. Though, he was pretty sure an alpha like Daryl would win from an alpha like Shane, he’d rather didn’t want to test that. 

Because if he was going to test that and Daryl would die, Shane would be more tempted to claim him. Or if Daryl one, Daryl would claim him. He wasn’t looking for a god damn mate, he was looking for someone who would fuck him through his heat and nothing else. No strings attached. That was all he wanted and needed.

~

He was glad that he had spoken those words. It meant that he had finally some peace in his mind. Something he really needed right now, because with his heat nearing… At least, he hoped his heat was nearing. If not it meant he was probably pregnant. And being pregnant within these conditions? God, how much he would hate that. With Shane looking over his shoulder constantly and the hate between Daryl and him sometimes. Though, that hate had been weakened during the last couple weeks. He couldn’t blame him forever for mounting him for the first time right? 

Speaking of the devil, he could pick up the scent of the archer nearing his cell. He hoped he would just continue it further away, but all of that was nothing but false hope. “Can I come in?” Daryl asked calmly, standing in front of the blanket hanging in front of his cell for a bit of privacy. “Yeah, come in.” He mumbled softly, sitting up on his bed. 

“Wanna talk to ya ‘bout somethin’.” He nodded calmly at those words and patted on the bed. He was going to share the bed with him for a while anyway, so him sitting on his bed shouldn’t do anything to him. It was a serious talk, he knew that, and he would feel even more awkward if the man would just stand there, awkwardly. So it was probably for the best if he sat down on the bed next to him. Daryl bit his bottom lip when he asked him to sit on the bed, probably thinking if it was the best approach, before slowly moving towards the bed and sitting down on it. 

“I just want to know if ya ‘re okay. Ya’re actin’ weirdly.” Daryl asked him softly, looking straight in his eyes. Is that why he came here? To know if he was alright? He frowned at it, since when did Daryl care about things like that? Geez. “I’m fine.” He said calmly to the man. He could handle all of this. His mom was used to more than this, so if she could handle that, he could definitely handle this. Even if he had to do it on his own. 

“Ya’re not actin’ fine.” Daryl told him straight to the point, to which he rolled his eyes. Yeah, like Daryl knew what ‘fine’ was for him. A few weeks and he thinks he got him all figured out? Geez. “You don’t know anythin’ about me.” He said with a narrowing of his eyes. Easy as that. Daryl sighed and scratched the back of his head a bit, before opening his mouth again. “Ya slipped into my bed to sleep and didn’t even know ya weren’t in yer own cell.” 

Fuck, he had hoped that Daryl had forgotten about that. It was one time. _One_ time of weakness. “And you wanted me to fuck ya.” He closed his eyes and bit his bottom lip. Was he kidding him? That was one time as well! And he had rather have Daryl inside of him than Shane, easy as that. “Just felt fuckin’ horny, that a problem?” He asked with a roll of his eyes to the older man. But Daryl’s eyes bore down his, as if he wanted to dig up the truth from his eyes. 

“So out of all people ya choose me?” Daryl asked him, obviously sceptical about it. Well, yeah. He wasn’t going to ask a man in love with a woman to fuck him, or an old man. Or Shane. So Daryl was the only logical choice right? Who else was going to take care of him. “You’re hot, don’t need to like your character to let you fuck me.” He said plainly. Daryl frowned at that and shook his head. 

“Is Shane blackmailin’ ya?” He looked at Daryl with huge eyes, surprised, confused. God, how did he _know_? Was it so obvious? Was it so obvious that everyone had figured it out but didn’t want to do anything about it? “What makes you think that he does?” He asked him as calm as possible. Fuck, he didn’t know how Daryl figured that one out, but he didn’t like it in the slightest. Or did Shane told everyone what he was doing with him? How he loved to pin him against a wall and dominate his body. Like a damned prize. 

“Ya hate him, ‘s not for nothin’ that you chose me over him, even though ya hate me.” He swallowed and rolled his eyes. He did hate Daryl, but the fact that he figured out why he chose him instead of just accepting it and being an alpha about it, was annoying. “Plus, ya’re ignoring him as much as ya can.. He watches ya with those proud alpha eyes, he was pissed off that ya chose me and he takes ya out on runs. _A lot_.” How was it possible that an alpha like this saw all those things? 

“And.. well, yer lips are always bruised when ya come back.” He swallowed deeply, hearing his throat click. Amazing, who else knew? He could feel his shoulders slump a bit and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Who else knows?” He asked softly, vulnerable to the older man. He knew, he saw the things and right now he _knew_. There was no point in denying it if he had seen those things, those small things that normal people would never see. If it had been a wild guess he would’ve waved it away, but Daryl had been a victim of beatings, he’d knew that much from the scars he had seen on the very first day. 

“As far as I know it’s only me.” Daryl told him calmly, looking at him with _those_ eyes. The kind of eyes that said ‘I’m so sorry’. Like he could’ve done something, or that he just felt empathy. Whatever. It was bullshit. “Don’t look at me like that.” He said sternly to the man, he didn’t want sympathy, sympathy didn’t help. He didn’t want help. He was handling it just fine. As long Shane didn’t want something more than he had done right now, it would be fine. He could handle kissing and groping. 

“Sorry.” Daryl said with a sigh. “Ya shouldn’t let him do those things to ya.” Daryl continued softly. He scoffed at that. What other choice did he have? It was either this or die. If he refused he was going to be thrown outside, on his own. “You don’t understand. You never will. Fucking alpha’s.” He growled as he looked at Daryl. “You don’t know what we have to do, be it now or before the world turned to fucking shit. You can talk easy, fucking _alpha_.” He spit out the last alpha, the word like venom in his mouth. 

“It’s either this or fucking _die_. You can talk fucking easy with no heats, no fucking walker-drawing scent and not being able to function like normal anymore because some douchebag fucked you during your heat!” He could feel his eyes burning, but this time not because his eyes were turning gold. He wished it was because of that, but it wasn’t. “You don’t know how it’s like, seeing omega’s get captured by fucked up alpha’s and seeing them being used as fucking sex slaves! Like they’re some goddamn whores! All of that just to survive!” And it hurt, knowing that he was basically one of them right now. Being used by Shane whenever he wanted, even if it didn’t include sex.. yet. He never knew when Shane would finally be done waiting and just took what he wanted. 

He felt tears leaving his eyes, rolling over his cheeks as he took a deep, shaky breath. Daryl didn’t know what it was like, never would. “Rick…” Daryl said softly, before wrapping his arms around him. He just stood still, didn’t wrap his arms around the alpha, but didn’t push him away either. “You don’t understand..” he sobbed quietly, to which the alpha just tightened his grip. “I don’t. But I’ll leave the group if ya get kicked out. I will make sure that ya won’t be alone.” Daryl softly said to him. He let his head fall onto Daryl’s shoulder, this alpha was one big idiot. 

“’s my fault ya’re in this position. ‘m sorry, Rick. ‘m so sorry.” It felt good, hearing him saying sorry for everything. Not that a ‘sorry’ would fix everything, but this was a well-meant apology. No sarcasm, no jokes, no anger in his voice. “Just… let me help ya, please. I’ll be here for whatever ya need.” And maybe it was a wrong move, I mean this was the man who started everything and who he hated, but he wrapped his arms around the older man and grabbed on to the clothes tightly with his hands. 

“Just hold me.” 


End file.
